Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Joseph Yobo has explained why the present interim coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Austine Eguavoen suits the team better , OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Eguavoen led the Super Eagles in their AFCON qualifiers games in September leading them to a 3-0 win over Benin Republic in Uyo and a 0-0 draw against Rwanda in Kigali.
His appointment which is for two games was made possible due to the breakdown in talks over wages with German coach Bruno Labbadia, who was announced as the substantive coach of the team by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Looking at Eguavoen’s credentials to head the team , Yobo who played under the coach as a player, and was also his assistants two years ago when the team failed to make it the world cup shortly after crashing out of the round of 16 at the AFCON made a case for his former supremo.
“From my experience he has never been a defensive minded coach even in my time as a captain under him, he always wants you to build from the back. We were an attacking side under him starting from the back especially when playing at home. Nigeria’s DNA is an attacking footballing one; he also has that philosophy from his playing days”, he said in an interview with the print edition of the Guardian.
“As his assistant at the AFCON in Cameroon, I thought we played the best I have seen us play but it’s quite unfortunate we got that red card in the second half after we made a substitution that was meant to change the game. The pattern of play was defined even though some people forget this sometimes. Performance wise, that was one of the best I have seen the Eagles, both individually and collectively.
“The Cerezo I know is more like an attacking- minded coach who loves his team to play football. We missed some key players like (Victor) Osimhen in that tournament (AFCON 2021) and we had a few debutants at the tournament but that philosophy was there which is being replicated in the team currently.
” The current team is better reinforced, they’re stronger, have grown is stature and can now be held accountable for whatever they do. They understand the game more and are more experienced so I’m not surprised they are playing better at the moment”.
