April 17, (THEWILL) – Augustine Eguavoen found himself on a historical trajectory that he could not outrun with his adventure in the Super Eagles’ dugout. In the history of the management of Nigeria’s senior men’s national football team, no coach has had to resign his appointment twice and within such a short time as Eguavoen found himself doing between January and March. His involvement with the Super Eagles, first as interim coach for the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in January 2022 and later as Technical Adviser in March 2022, after which he resigned both times, is viewed alongside his sacking in April 2006 and his resignation from the job in December 2011, as the evidence of an intrinsic lack of foresight in football administration in the country.
Eguavoen’s unenviable trajectory of handling the senior team, to say nothing of two-time record coaching the country’s age-range teams like the Under-20 team between 2002 and 2003 and the Under-23 team between 2010 and 2011, is not one to be boastful about. If anything, the less than glamorous outcomes of his most recent failings, at AFCON and in the March Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier playoffs, should be the final straw in misadventure of having the 1994 AFCON winner taking charge of a Nigerian team challenging for honours against any other team anywhere in the world. Yet, if the words of the Sapele-born defender are anything to go by, he stands ready to accept another bite at the cherry should be he called upon again to coach the Super Eagles. Perhaps, the bronze medal Nigeria won with him in charge of the team at the 2006 AFCON in Egypt is what motivates him to return again and again after every other misadventure that has followed that bronze outing in Egypt.
In attempting to control the narrative of the latest case of his resignation just before the Nigeria Football Federation pulled the rug off the entire coaching crew, that they had appointed to manage the Super Eagles ahead of the playoffs against the Black Stars of Ghana, Eguavoen has frequently presented his angle of the disappointing inability of his team to qualify for the World Cup. Unlike Eguavoen, who will return to his Technical Director seat at the NFF, the sack saw former Under-17 coach Emmanuel Amuneke, who was made permanent Super Eagles’ coach to assist Eguavoen, Salisu Yusuf (2nd Assistant Coach/Chief Coach of the CHAN team), Joseph Yobo (3rd Assistant coach), Aloysius Agu (Goalkeepers’ Trainer) and Paul Aigbogun, all out of job for the time being.
Yet, in another twist, the decision of the NFF’s Technical and Development Sub-Committee has brought Yusuf back into play as his appointment was contained in a statement on Thursday by the NFF’s spokesperson, Ademola Olajire. The statement, which bore the title “NFF appoints Salisu, Bosso, Ugbade, Bassey to head male National Teams” also noted that “a new Head Coach for the Super Eagles will be announced and officially unveiled once the processes for his engagement and contract-signing are concluded.” Yusuf will work with Kennedy Boboye, Fatai Osho, Abubakar Bala Mohammed and Fidelis Ikechukwu as assistant coaches while Eboboritse Uwejamomere was appointed as team match analyst. Ike Shorounmu and Suleiman Shuaibu were appointed as goalkeeper trainers. In other appointments, Ladan Bosso was returned as head coach of the Under-20 male team and he is expected to work with former Under-17 head coach, Fatai Amao and others, such as Oladuni Oyekale and Jolomi Atune Alli as assistant coaches with Baruwa Olatunji Abideen as goalkeeper trainer.
However, Eguavoen took the task of telling his side of the story with religious vigour. From his words, several details have emerged that paint a picture of the man and his coaching.
One of his unprovoked admissions was that he was not in support of the decision of the NFF to relieve former coach Gernot Rohr of his duties with the national team. This was in line with his creative passing of the buck from his table to the NFF, whose overall decisions ultimately resulted in Nigeria’s absence from the World Cup for the first time since 2006. Eguavoen revealed that he saw it as a bad decision to have dismissed Rohr, as at when it happened. He insisted that it was a decision that he categorically stated that he did not support, being as he was already at the time a Technical Director in the Federation. He confessed that he even proposed to the NFF that Gernot Rohr not be fired as it was too close to AFCON. This claim was corroborated by Victor Ikpeba, also a former Nigerian international and contemporary of Eguavoen’s. As creative an excuse as this is, with the NFF being chiefly responsible for the outcome, there cannot be a total absolution for Eguavoen no matter how beautiful he paints the picture.
Not satisfied with pointing an accusing finger at the NFF for decisions that led to his appointment, an appointment that he accepted twice, Eguavoen also blamed his team, at least namedropping Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho. He claimed the player failed in his responsibility to stop Ghana and Arsenal midfielder, Thomas Partey from dictating play in the first leg at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi. He had tasked Iheanacho with the role of man-marking Partey and also playing behind the main striker, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. Eguavoen said the Leicester man was sluggish in his reactions and it allowed Partey the luxury of dictating the pace of the game and giving the edge of the midfield battle to the Ghanaians. Indeed, upon the realisation that a player was inadequate to fulfill his role, it behoves the coach and his assistants to change the tactics and the player to get the result they need. Here, the problem of selection and squad shallowness came to haunt Eguavoen.
Nigeria had the option of dictating midfield play as well, to press high, transition from midfield to attack and break down the Ghanaian attempts to play out from the middle of the park, where Partey held sway but in the absence of a midfield enforcer in the mould of Wilfred Ndidi, who sustained an injury while on duty for Leicester in the UEFA Europa competition before the playoffs, Eguavoen went with Innocent Bonke, midfielder for Ligue 1 side Lorient. His impressive displays this season must have prompted the coaching staff to send him a late invite as a like-for-like replacement of Ndidi. However, his opportunity to prove himself to Nigerian fans, who were sceptical about his talents and skills, went up in smokes because he sustained an injury in the first leg in Ghana and was ruled out of the reverse fixture in Abuja. It meant another replacement was needed. But, there was not enough squad depth and when Frank Onyeka, who deputised in the midfield, picked up a knock also, defender Oghenekaro Etebo had to be drafted in to fill the void and could only do so much to affect the outcome.
Debunking claims that he was dictated to include a couple of players into the starting XI by the powers that be in Sports governance in the country, Eguavoen insisted that no such thing happened and he was fully in control of team selection and player inclusion throughout his time in charge and most especially during the playoffs. The charge that some of the questionable inclusions, such as Rangers’ youngster Calvin Bassey, when the more technically reliable Zaidu Sanusi could have been better favoured to limit the forays of the Ghanaians into the Nigerian technical area, or the decision to play Emmanuel Dennis ahead of Moses Simon or Ademola Lookman, among others, were queries that made many to conclude that there must have been invested interests that Eguavoen was forced to consider in his selection instead of picking the best to exploit the weaknesses of the Black Stars. The 56-year-old adamantly flattened this insinuation with the insistence that he was solely in charge of picking the matchday squad after informed input from his team of assistants.
The most intriguing comment of the ex-manager so far, however, has been his admission of the truth of why the Black Stars of Ghana beat Nigeria to the World Cup ticket on the away goals rule. Eguavoen confessed that the sole difference that gave Ghana the edge was that they wanted it more than his team demonstrated. He nailed it when he said that his charges “lacked the character, zeal to beat Ghana when it mattered most” while the “Ghanaians showed they wanted it more than our boys and that was why it ended that way. We did not do any of that. We didn’t fight or push enough for the winner and how do you do that? It’s with fast-paced football, creating chances but that did not happen.” Why this is all the more intriguing is that it is often the responsibility of the manager to whip his team into the type of zeal that can turn frightened, scared and terrified individuals into a ferocious pack of lions that strike dread into their foes. That is often the quality that distinguishes average coaches from top tier managers. The latter sort of managers, who notice a lack of drive and fight immediate set out to counter it before it costs them there jobs.
In Eguavoen’s case, it has cost him his job more times than one. Yet, one can identify both with his candour and optimism. His hiring and firing and resigning from the same position, both in an interim capacity and as a substantive coach, nonetheless, the 56-year-old still holds to a personal resolve to accept the job again if given another shot. While it is not likely that he will be considered again in the foreseeable future, there is no telling how things might play out. Currently, the NFF is in the process of appointing new coaching staff for the Super Eagles and, on Tuesday last week, directed the Technical and Development Sub-Committee of the Federation to suggest coaches to fill the vacancies now available in the national team within five days. So far, certain names have surfaced as probable candidates to lead the Super Eagles, with Sunday Oliseh, a former coach and captain of the national team, topping the list. Although the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, is open to employing another “local coach”, the NFF was dead set on hiring an expatriate, especially following the disappointments of the set of local coaches that have been given the opportunity.
Will that be the final nail on the possibility of Eguavoen returning to fulfill his desire of once more taking charge of the team to fill them with the zeal to challenge for glory and create a legacy that will shine in the dark where other opportunities so far have failed to spark, only time will tell. For now, he will tell anyone that cares to listen that he was not fired but resigned from the position of Technical Adviser after failing to meet the target of his terms of engagement, which was to qualify for Qatar 2022. And, although he has returned to his day job as Technical Director at the NFF, he will welcome a chance to take the job again because not only does he have a point to prove but that he remains one of the best coaches around. It may not inspire much confidence but between January and March, he recorded four wins, two draws and that disappointing defeat against Tunisia.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
