Izuchukwu Okosi
Following the wonderful performances of the Super Eagles in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has hinted that interim coach Austin Eguavoen could keep the job on full time basis should he lead Nigeria to glory and win the country’s fourth AFCON title.
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German coach Gernot Rohr was sacked in December and Eguavoen was named as interim coach to lead the Super Eagles to AFCON in Cameroon.
Rohr had been at the helm since 2016, notably leading Nigeria to third place at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt.
However, Eguavoen has been working as the Nigeria Football Federation’s technical director before being asked to replace Rohr and fill in on the bench until Portugal’s Jose Peseiro takes over.
Nigeria have started well at the ongoing AFCON in Cameroon, winning their first two games. The Super Eagles defeated Egypt 1-0 in their first game and later beat Sudan 3-1 on Saturday.
While speaking with AFP, Amaju Pinnick said: “If Eguavoen won the Cup of Nations, we might have a rethink. In that case, the foreign coach would become the technical director.
“For now though, Eguavoen is not getting carried away. It is important for us to sustain the winning mentality while we keep our heads on our shoulders.
“We are yet to win anything here except points,” Pinnick noted.
When Eguavoen was appointed as the interm coach in December, the NFF boss said: “We know that Eguavoen can do the job expertly, but we also know that he will be more useful controlling the technical department.”
The Super Eagles have already qualified for the Round 16 of the Nations Cup, and will lock horns with Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday night in thei2r last group game.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
