“Time is my biggest challenge” – Eguavoen explains selective Super Eagles invitations

By Wale Mustapha

Interim head coach of Nigeria, Austin Eguavoen has explained the reasoning behind his selective player invitations to the Super Eagles ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Eguavoen faced criticism for including players like Kelechi Iheanacho and Umar Sadiq in his squad, despite both having limited playing time at their respective club sides.

Meanwhile, players such as Josh Maja, Tolu Arokodare, and Cyriel Dessers, who have been in good form in Europe, have been consistently overlooked.

Addressing the issue, Eguavoen emphasized that the tight preparation window is a key factor in his decision-making process. With limited time to work with players before matches, he stated that it is challenging to integrate new faces into the squad.

“I have had to stick with the players I know. It will be difficult to bring in new players that I have not worked with previously because of the short time to prepare for these matches,” Eguavoen told Eagle7 FM.

“We only have three or four days to prepare for these games, so there simply isn’t enough time to fully evaluate new players,” he explained.

“Time is my biggest challenge because the calendar is so congested. I want to improve our large pool of players so that we can have capable replacements when needed.”

Eguavoen also called for patience from Nigerian fans, promising that opportunities for new players would arise in future friendly matches, where the team would have more time to experiment and integrate fresh talent.

“We should be patient. When we have friendlies, we will try to bring in new players and work with them. I know Nigerians love this game so much, but sometimes we need to be patient.”

Samuel Ahmadu

Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.

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