Uchendu Nwabara, President, Prestige Football Academy, says Super Eagles interim Manager Augustine Eguavoen, has the capacity to lead the national team more than some of the team’s former foreign handlers.
Nwabara said this on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) following the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to extend Eguavoen’s interim job with the Super Eagles.
He said that rather than extending Eguavoen’s job on an interim basis, NFF should give him a permanent contract to lead the Super Eagles, considering his achievements so far with the team.
“NFF management should give Eguavoen a permanent job for making Nigerians to smile in the few matches he has so far handled,” he told NAN.
Nwabara, who is also a Sports and Football Managerial Analyst, noted that some of the foreign managers who handled the Super Eagles in the past lacked the technical ability to lead any clubside, talk more a national team.
“Some of these foreign coaches can’t handle any club but they gave them Super Eagles to handle; we saw the results.
“These coaches became popular with failure after coaching the Super Eagles, we have seen them and how their career ended.
“If those foreign coaches can handle our national team and didn’t succeed, why can’t Eguavoen who is already succeeding, not be giving a permanent job?
“We must learn to work with our local coaches and also give them what it takes to succeed,” Nwabara added.
NAN reports that NFF had in September confirmed that Eguavoen will continue as Super Eagles handler after he led the team to a 3-0 defeat and a goalless draw again Benin Republic and Rwanda respectively in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
His mandate will continue with the 2025 AFCON qualifying double header match against Libya on Oct. 11 and Oct. 15. (NAN)
