CAIRO – Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr says his team struggled to cope with the pressing and midfield combinations of Algeria who beat his side 2-1 in the semifinal of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Riyad Mahrez scored in added time to send Algeria through to a first AFCON final in 29 years after Ighalo had drawn Nigeria level following William Troost-Ekong’s own goal which gave Algeria the lead.

The Desert Foxes were the better side especially in the first half and Rohr said in the post-match press conference following that defeat, that the pressing game of Algeria troubled Nigeria and made it difficult for the Super Eagles to find solutions.

“They executed their pressing superbly and found good situations in the midfield. We could not find a solution and we could not locate our wingers making it difficult to find solutions,” Rohr said.

Nigeria and Tunisia will contest the third-place match on Wednesday, June 17 after Tunisia lost 1-0 to Senegal after extra time in Sunday’s other semifinal.