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By Johnny Edward.
Former Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has signed a three-year deal with the Benin Football Association, The PUNCH reports.
Rohr takes over from Moussa Latoundji, who had been the team’s caretaker coach since Frenchman Michel Dussuyer was sacked after the Squirrels failed to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Benin Republic becomes the fifth African team the Franco-German will coach after Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
Rohr, a member of the Girondins de Bordeaux club 1881 committee, is relishing the prospect of rebuilding the Squirrels squad.
“I signed a three-year contract with the Beninese Football Association,” Rohr told The PUNCH.
“It’s an interesting mission to rebuild a team (the Squirrels) with younger players.”
Rohr’s first game in charge of the Squirrels will be a Group L 2023 AFCON qualifier against Rwanda in Cotonou next month
Benin are currently bottom of Group L after two defeats in their opening two games. Senegal leads the group with six points, while Mozambique occupies second spot with four points. Rwanda are third with one point.
“I will be in Cotonou soon to prepare the next match against Rwanda.
“It’s a real challenge that I have accepted. We have to try and get something to revive the team.”
Rohr recorded 35 wins and 16 draws in 64 games while on the Nigerian technical bench for five years, before he was sacked in December 2021.
The German tactician is the longest-serving manager in the country’s history, helping the three-time African champions claim the bronze medal at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.