Rohr Celebrates First-ever Benin Republic’s AFCON Win

Former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has said Benin Republic’s  historic first-ever AFCON win over Botswana has boosted their chances of reaching the knockout rounds of the tournament.

Benin pipped Botswana 1-0 on Saturday after they fell by the same scoreline in their opening group game against DR Congo.

“We’re happy, it’s a historic victory because Benin had never won a match in the Africa Cup of Nations in their four appearances,” Rohr said.

“It’s the first one, so we’re very happy. It gives us hope if getting out of this tough group before the last match against Senegal.

t will obviously be complicated, but my team chowed some great things in terms of play, and morale too.”

He continued: “It was tough against DR Congo, where there was a VAR malfunction that prevented us from getting a penalty, but my players forgot about that and they produced good football.

“In the end (vs Botswana), they backed off a bit not to my liking, but they wanted so badly to defend this first victory that we have to forgive them.”

Yohan Roche fired Benin to history on Saturday. His deflected strike sealed a 1-0 win over Botswana in Group D at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The breakthrough came in the 28th minute. Roche exchanged passes with captain Steve Mounié, then shot from close range. A defender’s touch wrong-footed the keeper and sent Benin into dreamland.

It was their first victory at the finals after 16 attempts since debuting in 2004. They had five draws and 10 defeats before this moment, despite reaching the quarter-finals in 2019.

Botswana remain winless in the competition. They have now lost all five of their Cup of Nations matches, stretching back to their debut in 2012.

Next up: Benin face Senegal on Tuesday. Botswana take on DR Congo. The top two teams in each group, plus four best third-placed sides, advance to the Round of 16.