“A mediocre and disappointing match”, Gernot Rohr after Madagascar-Benin

Benin coach Gernot Rohr reacted to the defeat against Madagascar (2-1) on Tuesday in Morocco, in a friendly. And the Cheetahs coach recognized that his team has shortcomings, which will have to be corrected before the start of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

A big test for Benin which begins the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup next November, the Moroccan tour of the Cheetahs, as part of the international break in October, did not produce the expected results. Opposed to its former adversaries, the Benin team comes out of this FIFA day with a mixed result. If the Beninese snatched a draw against Sierra Leone (1-1), Jodel Dossou’s gang did not prevent the defeat against Madagascar (1-2) for their second outing.

Although they entered the game well, with Andreas Hountondji opening the score in the very first minutes of the game, the visitors did not maintain this short advantage for long. Helped by the misses of Jodel Dossou and the blunders of Marcel Dandjinou, preferred to Saturnin Allagbé in the cages, the Bareas equalized before snatching the victory, on a distant rebound shot from Jean Yves Razafindrakoto.

A meeting which obviously made coach Gernot Rohr react. Facing journalists, the Franco-German technician regretted the errors, which were nevertheless avoidable, which cost his team its first victory even if he learned a lot from this tour in the Maghreb.

“(…) There was a good first match with a satisfactory result against a very, very aggressive Sierra Leone team. Then there was a mediocre and disappointing second match despite the good start. We saw a lot of things, we wanted to see the second goalkeeper also have a match, unfortunately on the second goal, he made a mistake, but friendly matches are also made to test the players and see how they behave“, confided Gernot Rohr in an interview relayed by Mega Sports.

For the Cheépards coach, the lack of competition in the legs of his players, especially at the start of the season, has partly worked to the disadvantage of his players. “ We had a great start to the match in the second match, there was a 2-0 ball with a missed face-to-face, then little by little the team gave up. I think too many players lack competition, don’t play for their clubs. There is the local championship which has not yet resumed, and the five local players I selected were not in the rhythm either“, regretted the 70-year-old coach.