WHY WE LOST TO CROATIA - GERNOT ROHR

SPORTS:- FOOTBALL:

- Gernot Rohr says the Super Eagles mistakes cost them the match against Croatia

- The German coach also defends Mikel Obi performance against the Eastern Europeans

- The Super Eagles will be taking on Iceland on June, 22, in their next group D match Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has attributed Nigeria's 2-0 loss to Croatia in the opening match at Kaliningrad to too many mistakes.

The Eastern Europeans broke the deadlock in the first half as a Mario Mandzukic's header was unfortunately steered home by Oghenekaro Etebor.
Luka Modric converted a second half penalty to put the lead beyond the reach of the young Nigeria side.

In a post match interview, Rohr admitted his players were aware they made a lot of mistakes that cost them in the match. "We know we made some mistakes, too many important mistakes, and it is clear that we need to get better in order to move on," News Agency of Nigeria reports.

The German tactician also said that the entire team were disappointed with the result adding that the team need to show professionalism when taking set pieces.  "Our organization was good, that is clear just as the tactics were not wrong, but we need to be more professional in the way we take the set pieces. We need to be better before our next game," he added.

Rohr also said he was satisfied with the performance of Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi despite not delivering the goods for Nigeria. "Mikel since I took over have always been playing the way we deployed him to play, and this has yielded results for us.

"But, he couldn't have done better than he did today, because of the quality of those he was playing against. "He had Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona and Luka modric of Real Madrid playing against him, and they are of good quality and playing for clubs bigger than that of Mikel who plays in China. "So he really did well," he said.

Rohr also stressed Alex Iwobi substitution was a tactical one and not because he had a poor performance. "Iwobi deserved his starting place, based on his performances in the last few days. He only had big work to do with the full back, and this took too much out of him. "However, he did well and I don't think he shouldn't have started the game," he said.

The German technical adviser assured they will go back to the drawing board and his boys will have a better performance on June, 22, against Iceland. "We will improve because it is important for us. We have to get better in order to move forward," he said.