“Ghana Clearly Wanted The Cup More Than Us,” Eguavoen Says

Austin Eguavoen, the former Super Eagles interim manager, stated that Ghana’s Black Stars were hungrier and more eager than Nigeria’s Super Eagles to clinch a trip to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Both teams had home and away draws, but Ghana was fortunate to qualify for the World Cup on the away goal rule after a 1-1 tie in Abuja followed by a goalless draw in Kumasi.

He apologized to Nigerians for the World Cup fallout during an appearance on a Supersport broadcast.

Eguavoen said, “We did not play with the urgency the match demanded but they capitalize on this more than we did; they played better than Eagles in Kumasi but we played better than them in Abuja.

“Ghana’s game is always centered around the midfield and we failed to mark Thomas Partey in that area who has the luxury throughout the match in Abuja. It is unfortunate that we lost the ticket.”

Eguavoen thanked the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for their support but expressed disappointment that the squad had not been able to return them by qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in the Middle East.

He responded to rumors that the technical staff was being coerced to take some players. Eguavoen said, “Nobody can force any player on me because the likes of Lookman have been doing well in Leicester City. Talking about somebody coming to alter my selection was not true and the only people I discussed my selection with were my backroom staff.

“I want to thank NFF for giving me the opportunity to coach Nigeria for the World Cup qualifiers. I did not regret coaching the team especially when you are called to coach your country it was a privilege and I cannot refuse having spoken to a lot of people about it. I am not going to see myself as a failure as one of the god coaches in the country.

“Drawing in Kumasi and Abuja was not a failure as we did not lose the game but we lost the ticket. So I don’t see it as a failure because the two-legged qualifiers were sensitive matches, especially the World Cup.”

Eguavoen did, however, entrust the NFF with setting a long-term goal for the incoming coach to establish a new senior national team.