Owolabi wants Eguavoen to continue as Eagles’ coach

Former National Team Winger, Felix Owolabi, has absolved Coach Augustine Eguavoen of the blame for Super Eagles’ disappointing exit at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, while urging the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to still stick with the coach, with less than two months to the 2022 Qatar World Cup playoff against Ghana.

“I wouldn’t really blame Eguavoen for our exit from the Nations Cup bearing in mind the circumstances surrounding the exit of Rohr and the little time he had to prepare the team. I must commend him for the way the Eagles played during the group stage, which I haven’t seen the team play in a long time.

“However, I think it was an error for him to have taken out Kelechi Iheanacho to save him from being shown a second yellow card and hurriedly bringing in Alex Iwobi.

“All we wanted was a win and then proceed to the next level. Unfortunately, we didn’t win. A bird in hand, they say, is better than two in the bush. So, why remove Iheanacho when we are yet to qualify for the next round? Why would you think of tomorrow when you are just beginning a new day? And see what it has cost us now because it was an error removing him in the first place,” he said.

The former Eagles winger observed that during the group stage of the competition no country gave Nigeria a strong challenge, adding, “even though we tried to adopt the wing play of the good old days, it didn’t work against Tunisia.

“The goalkeeper must have a great share of the blame. To me, he was sleeping when the shot caught him unawares. The shot was very direct and I cannot explain why he didn’t push it away. Ordinarily, he was supposed to communicate with the midfielder and the two central defenders before the striker took the shot. It is so sad that we lost out in the Round of 16.”

Owolabi advised the NFF to learn from the Nations Cup setback and prepare adequately for the World Cup playoff against Ghana.

He added: “I will implore the NFF to stick with the same players and coach.”