Benin coach Gernot Rohr says having seen Lesotho draw with top-ranked side Nigeria in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers opener has given his side belief they can also do something against Bafana Bafana.
Nigeria, who had a star-studded side, was surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw at home by Lesotho at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Thursday.
Benin and coach Rohr are in South Africa to face Bafana in the same Group C at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday (15:00), with the winner set to go top of the group, and Rohr believing more surprises could happen.
“I spent five years in Nigeria and we played even here in South Africa – Joburg – against Bafana Bafana,” Rohr said at the press conference in Durban, recalling the AFCON qualifiers in 2018 for the 2019 edition at FNB Stadium.
“You always have an eye on your former team. I was suffering with them [Nigeria], I saw they attacked, attacked without scoring a goal and they had to wait for a corner and scored a header from a big player, Seyi Ajayi.
“Yes, they had problems. We know that they have big players, the best players. They had three center forwards attacking, all wonderful players – fourth striker [Ademola] Lookman, [Alex] Iwobi behind.
“Normally, you should win this game in Uyo, a wonderful stadium. But like you saw all is possible in this group. I think there can be a lot of surprises, and this was already one of them.
“You never believed that Lesotho could get a draw in Nigeria, but they did well.”
Rwanda, under Rohr’s compatriot Frant Spittler from Germany, started the other Group C match on Wednesday with a 1-1 with Zimbabwe at Huye Stadium in Butare.
Meanwhile, Benin can also draw strength from the fact that South Africa have not won their opening match in World Cup qualifiers in 19 years.
Rohr is aware that most Bafana players are from Mamelodi Sundowns, who he watched when the South African giants beat Wydad Athletic Club 2-0 and 3-2 on aggregate to win the inaugural African Football League last week Sunday.
The German coach, who also managed Burkina Faso in the past, says that gives Hugo Broos an advantage and something he doesn’t have.
He said this has been a success as Spain won the World Cup in 2010 with most of the players coming from FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, and Germany won the same trophy four years later in Brazil with Bayern Munich providing the most players.
“The league here is very good,” said Rohr, who was sitting alongside his captain Marcel Dandjinou of JDR Stars.
“The players don’t need to go away, the infrastructure here is wonderful. When I see all these stadiums, in 2010, Germany played here [Moses Mabhida Stadium] in the semi-final [against Spain] and the stadium is still the same.
“In other countries, when you come a few years later, it is not the same. It is fantastic to play in South Africa.”
