Eguavoen: I’m focused on defeating Sudan, not records
Interim Super Eagles coach, Augustine Eguavoen, has reiterated his desire to get all maximum points on Saturday when his team would line up against Sudan in the second game of Group D in the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The former Super Eagles captain waved aside his record as the only Nigerian […]
Super Eagles interim manager, Austin Eguaveon gestures during a training session
Interim Super Eagles coach, Augustine Eguavoen, has reiterated his desire to get all maximum points on Saturday when his team would line up against Sudan in the second game of Group D in the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The former Super Eagles captain waved aside his record as the only Nigerian coach to have led the Super Eagles to win all three group phase matches at the AFCON, when his wards steamrolled Ghana, Zimbabwe and Senegal in Egypt 16 years ago.
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“I am focused on winning against Sudan for now. I don’t want to think about any record or how we go about our third match. Sudan is in focus now and we have to deal with that, squarely.”
“I am happy with our output against Egypt and especially the way the boys set up and approached the game the way we agreed was best. Everything worked. But we have shifted our focus completely to the next match and it is another day and another team and a different approach. I am happy with the playing personnel that we have got and the way they are ready to give their all,” Eguavoen said.
Former Eagles’ captain Eguavoen featured for the Nigeria senior team for 11 years, between 1987 and 1998, during which he lifted the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994, held aloft the Afro-Asian Cup the following year, played in three AFCON finals (it could have been six but he missed the 1990 finals in Algeria; Nigeria withdrew from the 1996 finals and; was barred from the 1998 competition) and featured at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. He won a total of 51 senior caps.
Three points on Saturday will guarantee group leaders Nigeria a place in the Round of 16 of the 33rd AFCON, meaning a more relaxed approach to their final group phase clash with debutants Guinea Bissau also in Garoua on Wednesday next week.
If they finish top of Group D, the three-time champions will remain in Garoua for their Round of 16 task.
