Super Eagles caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen has defended his decision to invite Kelechi Iheanacho and Umar Sadiq for the team’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.
Iheanacho and Sadiq got the nod ahead of in-form strikers Cyriel Dessers and Tolu Arokodare.
Eguavoen said the limited preparatory time for both games played a key part in his decision.
“I have had to stick with the players I know, it will be difficult I have not worked with previously because of the short time to prepare for these matches,” Eguavoen told Eagle7fm Sports Radio.
Read Also:AFCON 2025Q: Akuneto Warns Eagles Against Complacency In ‘Dead Rubber’ Clash With Rwanda
“We have had only three, four days for these matches, so the time is not there (to look closer at new players).”
He added: “Time is my biggest challenge because the calendar is so choked.
“I want to improve our large pool of players, so that we could have capable replacements.
“We should be patient when we have friendlies, we will try to bring some new players and work with them.
“I know Nigerians love this game so much, but sometimes we’re not patient.”
By Adeboye Amosu
14 Comments
It is understandable.
Na wa o…so without the 3 POINTS, 3 GOALS and the LYBIA WIN over RWANDA this DUMMY wouldn’t have QUALIFIED the TEAM for MOROCCO???
So WE now DEPEND on CAF and other TEAM to QUALIFY??
Kai!
What a SHAME!!!!
Smh….
Wow. If we go by his logic it means there will be no room for any new player in football. Has he not been watching them play at their clubs? Very myopic viewpoint if you ask me. Desser has played in the Eagles before. These coaches struggle to make any change and its very obvious.
Let me still reserve my comment.
I still dey watch.
What will get me angry most is if Nigeria continue to play draw with Lesotho and benin republic next year when we continue with world cup qualifier.
The thing is even that Eguaveon wasnt even a spectacular player in his days as a Super Eagle… dude is the most connected fraud that ever lived. Got us knocked out of USA ’94, Failed to qualify us previously for Olympics, Failed as an SE coach several times including not qualifying for QF in AFCON 2022 and WC 2022… such a recurring failure in Nigeria’s football… what a shame! The only local coach I believe to get a good job done is Samson Siasia… no nonsense bloke!
The same Samson siasia that failed to qualify for one AFCON that year, dey play!
Someone should please buy broadband internet and a computer for this dullard of a coach so he can watch players “more closely” from the comfort of his home.
What a bunch of silly excuses…!
He needs to watch a player from 5 metres away before he can know how the player can fit or add value to his team….LMAOoo.
Who else needs more evidence that this man depends solely on the individual brilliance of the players….?!
This is the true “gather and play” coach as Omo9ja used to describe keshi during the days of KON before it went defunct.
Fellow Nigerians, behold the technical director of your football…..LMAOoooo. He would rather invite a striker who has struggled for gametime all season simply because he has worked with him previously than invite one that has scored 30 goals in all competitions (local and continental) that season…..LMAOoo
The same man who needed to go watch Dessers, Akpoguma and Bassey in the biggest leagues in Europe before they could make his AFCON squad, but found space for Spanish 2nd division Kelechi Nwakali and South African league based Olisah Ndah.
A pointer to the fact that if he remains as gaffer, all world cup qualifiers will be played by his familiar players BECAUSE THERE WILL NOT BE SUFFICIENT DAYS OF TRAINING during each international window. NFF has sabotaged Eagles by themselves. Good for them.
6 “finals” for players who will STILL STROLL INTO camp and get automatic shirts!
Wow!
He Should have just kept quiet than giving this annoying excuse that exposes his ineptitude.
Naija na season film, everything na politics.how can u bench a keeper in serie A in Italy over a low south African league.dis show d level of the coach will have.dat y I will always rate any foreign coach over indigenous coach.
Lier. No matter what, a liar would be a liar. Eguavoen has to be replaced after the Rwanda match if Nigeria has to do well at the upcoming Afcon in Morocco and the World Cup qualifiers.
Just a quick question. Did Ọshọ ever play for Nigeria?
Why did he play him?
Do you have to see the individual players live and direct before you invite the players, What kind of mentality is that?
Are we toddlers that you think you can pacifier here ba?
Nigeria is lost as a nation simply because the wrong people are the ones running the affairs of Nigeria.
Imagine Tinubu, as the president of the Republic of Nigeria, says it all. Buying new SUVs for his troops while Nigerians are struggling days in and days out to put food on their tables. So sad.
Eguavoen should be ashamed of himself for this statement he made.
Nigeria is finished under these wicked people who care for brown envelopes rather than their country.
Corruption will continue as long as we don’t choose the right people to run anything concerning Nigeria.
Nwabali is not going to be available for the Rwanda match due to what happened to his dad but we have Okoye as the best replacement for him. That is how it should be kę.
I have overused my section 419 tired, and I don’t even know what selection I should use again, lol. Ahhhh, 9ja people, I hail ooo. Hmmm. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and other countries are winning away from home and solidifying their superiority with fearless display of deploying the right players, match planning and techniques. I can’t remember the last time Eguavoen won an away match for the national team. He is just a 1D coach who believes in the old pattern of celebrating away draw irrespective of the level of opposition. With this mindset, Forget WC!!
Here we have a toothless opportunist who has continued to exploit his position in the nff to frustrate foreign coaches to his own benefits.
I can’t remember any coach alive that has been given more opportunity. Despite his avoidable failures, his fingerprints of rigidity, greed, and technical inferiority in modern soccer are still evident in players invitation, preparation, interviews and match proper..
It’s on record that a foreign coach Rohr took the team to AFCON and WC after many failures from local dumbos.
Another foreign coach, Pesseiro took the team to its highest AFCON and FIFA ranking positions in a decade.
Only a foreign coach (upgrade to Pesseiro) can save the team from the looming disaster in AFCON and WCQ
Always complaining, what’s the color of our problem in that country though? Allow the old man to fail first now, if we win, you all come with excuse that we won against weaker team, if we draw you complain, lost also with same complain, ki le fe? Allow the man to do what his job, nobody gat it all, we’ve qualify for the AFCON, and hopefully we will do same with WC, even though if that happened, 99% of you guys still gonna complain.
CSN is high time you guys introduce edit button for us to edit our attimes typo error now.habba.