Joseph Yobo talks Super Eagles leadership, coaching, 2026 World Cup

In this engaging interview with AZUBUIKE JIDEAKA, former Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo offers candid reflections on his time as both a player and assistant coach with the Nigerian national team. Yobo speaks about working alongside Austin Eguavoen, the challenges of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and his thoughts on the national team’s future. He shares insights into the team’s attacking philosophy, his personal experience in coaching, and the leadership qualities of key players like William Troost-Ekong. Yobo also touches on his personal journey, leaving the door open for a potential return to football management.

You were managed by Austin Eguavoen and served under him during the AFCON 2021 run and the unfortunate non qualification for the 2022 World Cup. We saw the side play with a level of freedom again and scoring goals. What do you think makes Cerezo stand -out?

Yobo: From my experience he has never been a defensive minded coach even in my time as a captain under him, he always wants you to build from the back. We were an attacking side under him starting from the back especially when playing at home. Nigeria’s DNA is an attacking footballing one; he also has that philosophy from his playing days. As his assistant at the AFCON in Cameroon, I thought we played the best I have seen us play but it’s quite unfortunate we got that red card in the second half after we made a substitution that was meant to change the game. The pattern of play was defined even though some people forget this sometimes. Performance wise, that was one of the best I have seen the Eagles, both individually and collectively.

The Cerezo I know is more like an attacking-minded coach who loves his team to play football. We missed some key players like (Victor) Osimhen in that tournament (AFCON 2021) and we had a few debutants at the tournament but that philosophy was there which is being replicated in the team currently. The current team is better reinforced, they’re stronger, have grown is stature and can now be held accountable for whatever they do. They understand the game more and are more experienced so I’m not surprised they are playing better at the moment.

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We know Eguavoes is in there on the interim but the bigger picture is getting the World Cup qualifier going after a poor start. Do you feel the Super Eagles despite their current position can still make it to FIFA 26?

We’ve found ourselves in a bad place…it’s never easy after starting so poorly but it’s not over yet until the last game. We are in a position where we have to do the math expecting others to draw or lose. I don’t feel anything is impossible in football. I remember the 2010 World Cup game against South Korea…I got injured in that game and came out thinking we’re out but when they did the math, we could make it to the second round if we win as all three teams had equal chances of qualifying for the next round on goal difference. You can’t really rule out a nation like Nigeria, as it’s partly in our hands but not entirely. You’d expect the likes of South Africa to drop points and we beat them at the next game, one game at a time, picking up the points and expecting others to drop theirs, which can help us cross the finish line.

It’s a World Cup qualifying marathon; even teams at the top at some point become jittery as everybody wants to be at the World Cup. Also, how bad do we really want it? We cannot afford to drop any more points; we have to be smart about it and get results home and away. I remember the 2010 qualifying run under Shuaibu Amodu. We went away to Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone winning by 1-0 scorelines, so these are things that happen to us sometimes but we always fight back. There is a new manager now, the team looks rejuvenated and there’s a healthy competition for places, which is needed.

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Do you see parallels of some sort with this qualifying campaign and the 2002 qualification where the Super Eagles lost to Sierra Leone away and were five points behind Liberia at some point and went on an unbeaten run to qualify?

Absolutely! I also draw parallels from 2010. I think when we win two straight games back-to-back and do a third one, it puts you in a position where you feel there is actually a chance. We haven’t played everybody in the group yet and mathematically, this is still in our hands but we have to force it and drag it ourselves as our rivals are also thinking the same.

They (South Africa) drew to Uganda in the AFCON qualifier but it can be a different scenario during the World Cup qualifiers. This can serve as an advantage for us (going away to South Africa) taking the pressure away from us. Our fans, though sometimes supportive, can also be very demanding, but I feel if we are smart and play like professionals, focus on getting the points to take us to the World Cup, I believe we can achieve it.

You must have heard of the hasty announcement of the German Bruno Labbadia as the new manager before a breakdown in the contractual agreement. Do you feel Nigeria dodged a bullet if you’d like considering he had no prior international football experience at the time?

You can never tell until the person takes the job. As a player or coach, you can’t tell if he would have improved on what Eguavoen has done so far. Its results that determine if an appointment was right or wrong and he never sat on the bench as a Super Eagles coach. It might have been a good thing but, so far, it’s going well for the team in this moment.

READ MORE: I’m still in charge, Eguavoen denies quitting as Eagles coach

Speaking of appointments, your old mate at Everton Lee Carsley is the interim manager of England. Did you feel at any time during your time together at Everton that he’d become a manager one day?

Yeah! Lee played at a position that he had to read the game and communicate as a defensive midfielder. He was an intelligent player, knew how to intercept play and slot into the central defence when we were out of position. He understands the game and I’m not surprised by what he is doing.

I saw the potential from our time at Everton and like most of the players (Mikel Arteta, Phil Neville, Steven Pienaar) we learnt off the manager (David Moyes) who drilled us a lot to produce what people saw on the pitch. Lee was also one of the leaders in the team and has a very high football IQ.

Seems most of the ex-Everton players are becoming managers. Are you planning on becoming one yourself? 

My case is peculiar. Initially, I never wanted to become a manager. When I was called to do it (become an assistant) I was a bit skeptical but I saw it as a chance to learn the trade. My appointment came during Covid and I hadn’t gotten my badges yet and not even a Nigerian coaching course could have been arranged at the time because of the situation globally. My role was a bit different under Gernot Rohr and Eguavoen. One thing I observed even as a player was some managers forget they used to be players before which is something I was able to do differently by relating more with the boys being a former player myself.  I won’t lie to you I loved it (coaching the national team). Ask the players. The coaches that were there and anyone who knows me know that whatever I’m involved in, I do it with passion, but we didn’t qualify (for the 2022 World Cup). Rather than review and look to the future, they let go of everybody.

Whatever transpired in the away game against Ghana, I thought we should have won that game. I knew I had a big role to play being a former captain by talking to the players on what to expect from this type of situation but in football, goals decide games and we couldn’t score in Ghana and they eventually qualified on away goals here in Abuja. I wanted to be part of the experience (the World Cup) from the sidelines after experiencing it first hand as a player.

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The NFF at that time made a decision to drop all the coaching crew, forgetting that I was brought in as a project for the future. In doing so, they deviated from the purpose and I moved on to other things. When I saw a window of opportunity (to get my license) during that time frame, I took it with the PFA which I paid for in full. I still have receipts for it but still ended up getting dropped from the crew.

With this same experience, would you still go into management?

You can never say never because I loved it. I started with Gernot Rohr then Eguavoen came in, who was a manager I was familiar with as a player which made me feel comfortable. I felt with this experience from these two coaches as well as those from my playing days, now I want to do this. These men gave me the opportunity to express my knowledge and they gave me these little assignments as a young coach especially from a defensive perspective which was my space and it was to ensure how I could impact that department of the team. I could relate more to the players while carrying out my role perfectly well.

I had a good relationship with William Troost-Ekong, for instance, as well as all the other defenders, but my time in that role didn’t last long. What Cerezo was trying to do was have assistant coaches for each department to complement the goal keeping coach…it was a good time. But I have decided to take a backseat and have no hard feelings. One thing has to change though, the way they treated the old generation of coaches shouldn’t be the same with the new generation, but being part of the Super Eagles coaching crew was an honour.

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You spoke about Troost-Ekong and its fascinating that both of you have the same number of goals for The Super Eagles – seven goals. He has also surpassed the Big Boss, Stephen Keshi’s AFCON record for goals. What have you made of his Super Eagles career so and his leadership qualities?

First of all, congratulations to him for reaching my goals return; these are part of the things I never thought about but when you finish playing, you look back and reflect. Congratulations to him, he is a great player but more so a wonderful human being. When you talk about leadership, this guy, for me, without putting anyone down, is one of the best in the team. I say him play at the Under-23s with the mohawk (Brazil 2016 Olympics) then coming into the coaching crew as an assistant (in 2020) got me up close and personal. With my role as a defensive coach, I realised he was a fantastic leader apart from being a player.

Leadership doesn’t come to everybody. He is a fantastic leader and I’m happy he’s come back and proved (his leadership) at the last AFCON; almost leading the team to glory, becoming the player of the tournament. He is a fantastic leader with great communication skills despite his diverse background.

What is Joseph Yobo doing these days?

I’m still into football but sometimes, I like to sit back and reflect, especially when building new things. I have my businesses and have interest in other sports. Like I said, I don’t know what tomorrow holds, and I don’t want to shut the door on coaching. Maybe, just maybe in the future, there could still be the possibility of coaching again.