Rohr offers explanation for Iheanacho’s goal drought with Super Eagles

Gernot Rohr has offered an explanation as to why Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho has not been scoring for the team lately.

The national team technical adviser said there was a difference between playing in the Premier League and playing at home in Nigeria.

Iheanacho, 25, last scored for Nigeria in September in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Liberia in Lagos, and has struggled to find the net in subsequent games.

Meanwhile, the Leicester City forward bagged 12 Premier League goals for his club last season, and has scored once in the topflight so far this season.

And Rohr, who was speaking in an interview with Elegbete TV, said Iheancho’s inability to maintain his goal scoring form is as a result of the poor state of pitches in Nigeria.

Read Also: Qatar 2022: Red-hot Iheanacho nets brace as Super Eagles beat Liberia in Lagos

“We use Kelechi [Iheanacho] like he is used in Leicester, like a second striker. He is playing with Jamie Vardy, but he is not starting so much, actually, yeah.

“He is coming in but not playing all the time. But we try to give him the same opportunity like what he is used to with his club. That’s what we try all the time with the players.

“We had Osimhen, not Vardy, and Kelechi was the second striker, coming sometimes from behind, taking the ball, giving decisive passes like he is doing in his club more and more. He even gives decisive passes than he scores goals, actually.

“So the real problem is, I think he doesn’t have the same conditions of the pitches and everything in Nigeria like he has in England. It’s a different football,” Rohr added.

Iheanacho is part of the 24-man squad already invited to execute Nigeria’s two games this month against Liberia and Cape Verde in the World Cup qualifiers.

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