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Eguavoen: Super Eagles need time to get back to their best
The West Africans have struggled to impress in recent times and the former international and coach has called for patient with the side
The technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation, Austin Eguavoen, believes the Super Eagles need time to get back to their best.
The Nigeria national team have been under severe criticism by a section of the fans following their recent not-too impressive performances.
The Super Eagles are yet to secure victory since November 2020, losing against Algeria in a friendly and playing out a draw against Tunisia.
Gernot Rohr’s men also struggled against lowly-rated side Sierra Leone in their 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in November.
The three-time African champions drew with the Leone Stars at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, squandering a 4-0 lead in the encounter.
Nigeria then played to a second consecutive draw against Sierra Leone in Freetown, much to the displeasure of many of their fans.
The West Africans qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations seamlessly, finishing third at the continental tournament in Egypt.
Eguavoen believes the Super Eagles will start winning games with ease again when the NFF start implementing their developmental plans.
“It will take a bit of time to get the Super Eagles back to what they used to be,” Eguavoen told the Punch.
“The bedrock lies in the development now and we have to focus on the young ones now because we have established players in the senior team. Young ones will need to come through the ranks.
“I had a chat with Gernot Rohr a few days ago and as soon as he comes he will focus more on the younger players.
“We have a plan and that plan will be unveiled to the world very soon. We argued and agreed on some issues and created a pathway that would make everybody happy, and that will be very soon.”
Eguavoen was a former Nigeria international and coach, and he was recently appointed as the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation, succeeding Shuaibu Amodu.
The Super Eagles will continue their 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign in March against the Republic of Benin and Lesotho.
