Udinese of Italy defender, William Troost-Ekong and his colleagues in the Super Eagles’ back-four have received a terse technical verdict, despite not conceding any goal in Saturday’s 4-0 trouncing of Libya, sports247.ng can report.
Although the Eagles’ defence appeared to hold its own during the encounter at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Troost-Ekong and his colleagues have received a strong wakeup call ahead of Tuesday’s second leg in Sfax, Tunisia.
The terse verdict is coming from Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, who said he was worried about his defenders’ output, despite the team’s huge win over Libya on match day three of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Rohr started the game with a four-man defense, comprising Troost-Ekong, Leon Aderemi Balogun, Jamilu Collins and Abdullahi Shehu, who was later substituted by Ola Aina, after suffering an injury in the 19th minute of the first half.
However, the Franco-German coach hinted after the match that the scoreline could have been a lot different had the Libyans converted few chances that came their way, especially in the first half where they shaded possession.
The Eagles’ gaffer admitted it was not a perfect performance by his side, and hinted that the defenders will have to concentrate better in the second leg to avoid repeats of some of the lapses that could have spelt doom for them in Uyo on a bad day.
Rohr said: ”This result does not mean we had a perfect game. We had problems defensively especially in the first half and before we play Libya again in three days, we must improve on our weak areas.”
