Gernot Rohr: I'd have won Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria in Cameroon

Gernot Rohr was fired as coach by Nigeria this week after a record-setting five years, four months and 10 days in charge of the Super Eagles.

In this extended interview after being let go by the Nigeria Football Federation, the Franco-German opens up to ESPN about his time with the team, and his firing, and says he would have won the coming Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, having finished third in Egypt in 2019, had he been allowed to stay in charge.

The interview has been edited for clarity.

ESPN: What do you make of the timing of your being fired?

Gernot Rohr: It was not necessary to do this so close to AFCON. After what the team did, and after what the team had achieved with [reaching] the targets... but it happened, and we are realistic people. We handled the situation but it was not necessary. All the fake news, all the comments of an uncertain situation, for the past month; this is not professional at all.

The word is that the NFF has to pay you out. What is the situation with your contract?

My contract is running until the end of next year, and the contract has been broken. And now I'm waiting not only for the [unpaid] salaries but also for the salaries until the end of the contract. This should now be handled by my lawyer. He will do everything for me. I'm outside now of these questions. The legal situation must be cleared.

What has been the most difficult part of this for you?

To say goodbye to the players. Most of them called me already; we were family and we had to leave each other. And it's not so easy.

The other problem -- the money problems -- I was always very cool about it. I have the record for longest time as the coach in Nigeria, but perhaps also I have the record for the coach with [most] non-paid salaries.

But I'm proud to do the job all the time with professionalism and this efficiency, and with a good relationship with everybody in my team. When I say my team, this is the players, it's the staff, the technical staff, the backroom staff; we were a big family and even when outside there were problems we were strong together and we could even have reacted on some difficult situations but we choose to be quiet to do the job as a family.

You have just said that you met all your targets and that is fact. What was the reason they told you why they let you go?

They're searching for some reasons, of course. I hear everywhere that the performances were not good enough, but we have the statistics. Especially in the last games, because they took the last two games to say we are not in good shape and we are not playing well.

But the statistics are here: We had much more chances to score than the opponents, we had much more possession of the ball, we had much more shooting on the goal. So, it's really difficult to understand and to accept that. The facts are that we reached all the targets despite all the problems we had. It was not easy for everybody.

We did what we had to do... everybody knows the results, everybody knows that we are close to the AFCON, and I think this team should win it because this team is built to win matches, important matches, decisive matches.

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And also, what was the big problem for me is that I qualified the team for the playoffs of the World Cup, and I could not accept that they could possibly come after and tell me to leave after AFCON so that they will go to the World Cup with another coach.

After the match against Cape Verde, I got this information that they want me to go and I was waiting for the written confirmation. The [NFF] president only gave me the verbal confirmation the next day. And I had to write to [the players and team staff] myself to know what's happening.

It's not really a professional situation and this uncertain period was not good for anybody. The players didn't know what was happening. I continued my work of monitoring the players. But when I wanted to go to Nigeria to watch the [CAF] Confederation Cup games or African Champions League, they told me to monitor the players in Europe. That's what I did. Still, we stayed ready. We put our list together of 37 players before [Nov. 16]. The job has been done until the letter last Friday [Dec. 10].

Did they ask you to go to the Africa Cup of Nations then leave for someone else to come in?

The target in the AFCON was for me to reach the final. So if I don't get to the final in the AFCON, they could have a reason to sack me.

I'm sure that I would have got to the final but of course it's not 100% sure. I believe we could have had a good AFCON and also prepare for the World Cup through these six or seven weeks where we are working together, and the team can come closer and have more complicity, more harmony, and better football.

And this would be very good preparation because the most important thing is to go to the World Cup.

I'm sure that the team is able to do it because the team is getting better and better. We have one of the youngest teams in African football, and that is what I told [the NFF].

I was also sure that Victor Osimhen would try to come back with us even if his injury was a big one. We saw Osimhen already playing very well against Cape Verde beside Odion Ighalo. With two goal scorers like this -- one young one, one a little bit experienced -- the young one will become better and better if they stay together.

I'm sure that this association can bring good results. One can score goals and on the side with the quick players, quick wingers, we could give them very good balls. Our strategy was clear but I think that a lot of people did not recognise it.

Do you think you could have won the AFCON given you are sure this Nigeria team would have reached the final?

Of course! Last time we made third. We had a good AFCON, we lost in the semifinal in the last second. This time, I'm sure it would have been better because the team has been growing together for five years and we had our different strategies, and the tactics were becoming more and more efficient. And I think even without me, they will do it, they can do it, because this team is young, is intelligent, and they can fight. They love their fatherland and they will be able to do very well at the next AFCON.

How have your players taken this news?

I spoke with some players and some of them told me they don't want to continue. But I said to them: "You have to continue. Now you have Nigerian coaches and you have to do well for your fatherland." So, I think that [interim coach] Austin Eguavoen has only to continue in the same spirit to be successful and the AFCON title will be in Nigeria.

Some of the criticism against you is that you stick to certain players too much, and do not invite in-form players such as Emmanuel Dennis or Taiwo Awoniyi; and when you do, you don't give them enough minutes to play so there is no competition in the team.

We have tried so many players. Awoniyi has been invited; he played 45 minutes against the Central African Republic. He was unlucky, but he would have been invited again. Dennis has been invited also. He came in twice against Sierra Leone. And all the other ones have been invited or would have been invited. We have so many strikers that you cannot invite six centre-forwards.

I know that all Nigerians are passionate about football, and everybody has his own favourite for this. And I understand that everybody wants to see their favourite players. What is true is that perhaps I didn't follow the suggestions or the advice of the officials to invite certain players. That is possible because I wanted to do the choice with my technical staff and not with people from outside the team.