Nigerians’ demands to want to win every match and trophies means coaching the Super Eagles is one of the toughest jobs in the world, Super Eagles head coach Austin Eguavoen has said.
Eguavoen, who doubles as the Nigeria Football Federation’s Technical Director, faces a tough task qualifying Nigeria for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar when the Eagles face the Black Stars later this month in the final qualifiers.
The three-time African champions travel to Ghana for the first leg of their mouth-watering encounter March 25, before hosting their arch-rivals four days later at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
Speaking in an interview with Elegbete TV, Eguavoen admitted that managing the national team is a tough job but called on the football faithful to support the team.
“It’s very tough. Very tough because we are humans and are very demanding,” Eguavoen told Elegbete TV.
“And we are a football nation, which is normal. We don’t want to settle for less. We always want to go for the best and by so doing, we want to win every trophy available.
“To be saddled with that responsibility I think is a very tough one. There’ll be critics everywhere, left, right and centre definitely, but the ability to be able to hold on and shed most things away and remain focused determines a lot.
“We will remain focused but our only appeal to people is to not discourage us but always encourage and support us because things like this, if a person isn’t strong, it can throw him off guard. But I’m focused and I know I have a lot of fans out there, thumbs up to them. I love everybody and we’ll celebrate together after the two-legged games,” Eguavoen stated.
Below is the Super Eagles squad for the Black Stars match:
FULL SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho (AC Omonia, Cyprus); Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Defenders: Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Torino FC, Italy); Calvin Bassey (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Abdullahi Shehu (AC Omonia, Cyprus); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal)
Midfielders: Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City, England); Oghenekaro Etebo (Watford FC, England); Akinkunmi Amoo (FC Copenhagen, Denmark)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Fatih Karagumruk, Turkey); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Victor Osimhen (Napoli FC, Italy); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Sadiq Umar (UD Almeria, Spain); Odion Jude Ighalo (Al-Hilal FC, Saudi Arabia); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Emmanuel Dennis (Watford FC, England); Ademola Lookman (Leicester City, England)
Standby: Chidozie Awaziem (Alanyaspor FC, Turkey); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Chidera Ejuke (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin, Germany); Paul Onuachu (KRC Genk, Belgium); Peter Olayinka (SK Slavia Praha, Czech Republic); Ogenyi Onazi (Al-Adalah FC, Saudi Arabia)
