Samuel Kalu is one of the best dribblers in Europe and he needed confidence to make a difference, according to Gernot Rohr, the former coach of the Nigerian national team.
Rohr gave Kalu his Super Eagles debut a month after the winger left Belgian side KAA Gent in August 2018 for Girondins de Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1.
Rohr admitted that he handed Kalu his Super Eagles debut because Bordeaux requested it to help them get the then 20-year-old’s contract approved by the league authorities.
“He did not join (Bordeaux) on my advice, the Girondins brought him before me, before asking me to also provide him with an A (national team) selection,” Rohr told AquiTélé as per Girondins4ever.
“It was essential for his contract to be approved. I only came afterwards to select it. At the time, to approve a contract for an African player, he had to be an international in his country, which was not the case before.”
The Franco-German went on to say that Kalu was a brilliant dribbler, one of the finest in Europe, but his progress has been impeded by coaches’ lack of faith in him.
“But Samuel Kalu is a very good dribbler, one of the best dribblers in Europe. He had very good dribbling stats. I think that, unfortunately, they didn’t know.
“There were also quite a few coaches. Kalu had still played quite a bit with Paulo Sousa at one point, then I saw some good matches with Jean-Louis Gasset. Then there was no longer that confidence he needed to make a difference.”
Kalu, now 24, left Bordeaux for Watford who were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2021/22 season. All 17 of his international appearances came under Rohr, who was fired as Nigeria’s coach in December.
