“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.”