Rohr blames poor pitches for poor show

Head coach of Nigeria, Gernot Rohr has said the standards at the on-going 2017 Africa Cup of Nations are being affected by the poor playing surfaces.

“It is difficult to play good football on the poor pitches because the players cannot express themselves freely,” Rohr, who is working as a pundit for a French television channel, said during an interview in Libreville.

There has been a lot of complaining that some of the injuries sustained by players have been as a result of the poor pitches.
Rohr gave an example of Stade de L’amitie which he describes as good when viewed from the tribune and the terraces, but very hard on the surface.

“Players and coaches are not satisfied with the playing surface,” he added.

Already players like Ahmed El Shennary (Egypt), Baba Rahman (Ghana), Mario Lamina (Gabon), Knowledge Musoma (Zimbabwe), Jonathan Zongo and Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso) have all picked up bad injuries on the playing surfaces.

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan also blamed the Port Gentil Stadium playing surface after his team defeated Uganda 1-0 in a Group D match played last Tuesday.