Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has expressed delight at the introduction of VAR in the quarter finals of the AFCON 2019 in Egypt.
Super Eagles qualified for the round of eight after defeating Cameroon 3-2. They are to face South Africa who sent packing host country Egypt.
“The Video Assistant Referee will come into play in the quarter-final stage. On the goal we conceded, I am not sure there was a foul, Ighalo was pushed in the back and the foul was against us.
“It is good for the football and referee we have VAR, the only problem is the hand in the box.
“It will help everybody especially for the offside,” the German said.
You will recall the decision taken after the referee of the 2018 world cup game between Argentina and Nigeria took after consulting VAR. Instead of awarding a penalty in favor of the Super Eagles, he waved play on despite VAR showing Marcos Rojo handling the ball in Argentina’s box.
Speaking ahead of the game against South Africa, one of the squad’s defenders, Williams Troost-Ekong, expressed the desire of the squad to progress to the next stage of the tournament.
“It is going to be a final to us when we clash with South Africa and of course, it is going to be a very difficult game for us. We played them last year in two difficult games. We will be humble and we will be very ready for the challenge,” the Udinese centre-back told SportingLife.
“They are still playing the same kind of football. They are very quick. They play the ball around well and they are very dangerous in the counter-attack. This are the kind of things we have to prepare for. If we play a good game I think we have a good chance against any team.
“Cameroon is one of the tournament favourites and the cup holder and we kicked them out of the tournament.
“We are now in the knockout stages and no one is safe. Everybody want to progress. Everybody want to be on top of their game and everybody is hungry to win it too. If there is anything, we want to be a team that will surprise the favourites,” he added.