Carl Ikeme’s illness my biggest regret- Gernot Rohr

If there is one thing that Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr regrets while taking stock of his Super Eagles job so far, it is sickness that knocked former number one goalie Carl Ikeme off the national team.

Speaking on Monday Night football the German Tactician who has already pocketed a ticket to the 2019 Nations Cup in Cameroon with a match against Seychelles to spare, described the experience and quite painful and heart breaking.

“If there is one thing I would say gave me the greatest headache, it was the sickness of Carl Ikeme, it was very disappointing” he confessed.

The former Niger and Burkina Faso coach apparently reflecting on all that has transpired both off and on the pitch, since his arrival to the country, joined the football house and other stakeholders to learn to the principle of working hand in hand as that is the best way of achieving set goals.

He warned against allowing politics over shadow efforts aimed at taking the nation’s football to the greater heights.

It will be recalled that former Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme contributed in no small measure to Nigeria’s qualification for the last World Cup in Russia, putting up impressive performance in the qualifiers leading to the world cup.

Unfortunately the 32 year old was diagnosed with acute leukaemia just before the start of the World cup, forcing out of both national and club assignments. Wolverhampton new goalkeeper Rui Patrício left the number 1 jersey vacant in Ikeme’s honour, choosing the 11 instead.