The cold war between President of the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) Amaju Pinnick and coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr was fueled by a disagreement over inviting QPR midfielder Ebere Eze, Owngoalnigeria.com understands.
Pinnick is a big fan of the 21 year old and sincerely believe he will bring the much needed creativity and flair that is missing in the Super Eagles if called up by Rohr.
Rohr on the other hand is not so keen on the QPR forward as he believe his present options in midfield are in a way suitable to the present style of play of the team although he made a u-turn and spoke via proxy to the player before the Super Eagles last round of games in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Eze decided to honour a call up to the England U21 ahead of Nigeria which means he will now require a clearance from FIFA before he can play for Nigeria and that infuriated Pinnick who had pushed for him to be called up earlier as it takes a whole lot to get a player cleared by FIFA after playing for England.
The NFF supremo however didn’t give up on the talent and travelled to London where he had dinner with the player and his girlfriend and in the process revealed that Eze is still keen on representing Nigeria.
That didn’t go down well with Rohr who always want things done outside the attention of the media after the failed attempt to lure Tammy Abraham before the World Cup 2018 in Russia. Pinnick is however not on same wavelength with the German coach.
Furthermore speaking with Cyriel Dessers behind the coach and posting his switch of allegiance speech on the official website of the NFF somehow undermines the authority of Rohr who believe he should be the one to speak with Dessers not the President.
Pinnick’s action has placed the coach under pressure to call up the forward who has been in good form for Dutch side Heracles Almelo. Rohr is however not fully convinced that the forward is needed now in the Super Eagles.
The two issues has further dent the frosty relationship the duo have been trying to patch since the end of the World Cup 2018 in Russia where they both disagreed on the reason behind the group stage exit of the Super Eagles.
Ade Emmanuel
