Eguavoen better than ex-S/Eagles foreign coaches – football manager

Uchendu Nwabara, President, Prestige Football Academy, says Super Eagles temporary Manager Augustine Eguavoen, has the capacity to lead the national team more than some of the team’s prior foreign handlers.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, Nwabara made this statement in response to the Nigeria Football Federation's (NFF) decision to prolong Eguavoen's temporary position with the Super Eagles.

He argued that rather than prolonging Eguavoen’s role on an interim basis, NFF should grant him a permanent contract to manage the Super Eagles, considering his successes so far with the club.

"Eguavoen has made Nigerians smile in the few matches he has managed, so the NFF management should give him a permanent job," he said to NAN.

Nwabara, a sports and football managerial analyst as well, pointed out that several of the foreign managers who had previously managed the Super Eagles lacked the technical proficiency necessary to command any club, much less a national team.

"We saw the results when these foreign coaches were given the Super Eagles, even though some of them are incapable of managing any club."

"We have seen these coaches and how their careers ended; after leading the Super Eagles, they became well-known despite their failure.

"If those foreign coaches were unable to lead our national team and still failed, then why can't Eguavoen, who is currently winning, be awarded a permanent position?

Nwabara continued, "We have to learn how to collaborate with our local coaches and also give them what it takes to succeed."

According to NAN, the NFF said in September that Eguavoen will stay in charge of the Super Eagles after he guided the side to draws and 3-0 losses over Rwanda and Benin Republic, respectively, in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.

The 2025 AFCON qualification double header versus Libya on October 11 and October 15 will mark the continuation of his mandate.