Former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has revealed the reason behind his decision to hand a first time call up to out of favour Super Eagles winger Samuel Kalu.
Kalu was handed his first call up to the Nigerian team by Rohr in 2018 when he was on the verge of completing a big money move from Gent of Belgium to Ligue 1 side Bordeaux.
Rohr said he didn’t play a role in the winger’s move to Bordeaux but was contacted by the club to cap him for Nigeria in order to him to be able to play for them in Ligue 1.
“He did not come (to France) on my advice,” Rohr told AquiTélé as per Girondins4ever. The Girondins brought him before I was hired (by Nigeria), before asking me to also provide him with a (Super Eagles) A selection. It was essential for his contract to be approved (laughs).
“I only came afterwards to select him. At the time, to approve a contract for an African player, he had to be an international in his country, which was not the case before”.
He went further to say the Watford winger is among the best dribblers in Europe but can’t understand why he hasn’t hit the height his talent commands. According to Rohr he lost confidence while at Bordeaux.
“But Samuel Kalu was an excellent dribbler, one of the best dribblers in Europe. He had impressive dribbling stats. I think that, unfortunately, they didn’t know. There were also a lot of coaches. Kalu had still played quite a bit with Paulo Sousa at one point; then, I saw some good matches with Jean-Louis Gasset.
“Then there was no longer that confidence he needs to make a difference. He’s a sensitive player.”
