January 19, (THEWILL) – When the Super Eagles face the Wild Dogs of Guinea Bissau on Wednesday at Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua, caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen believes his already-qualified team has no need to look down on their opponents or approach the game carelessly.
As THEWILL reported, Nigeria has qualified for the Round of 16 with a game to spare, thanks to victories against Egypt and Sudan in their two matches, as well as a mixture of other outcomes, including Egypt’s defeat of Guinea Bissau on Saturday.
Despite the fact that there is no major pressure going into the last group phase games, Eguavoen insists his team will not deviate from its defined one-match-at-a-time and win-all plan chosen for the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations.
Making this clear, Eguavoen said: “It is important for us to sustain the winning mentality while we keep our heads on our shoulders. Just as I told the boys after the match against Egypt, we are yet to win anything here except points. Guinea Bissau need the three points because they have only one so far and we must be prepared for a massive fight.
“If we let down our guard, we could be punished, and that would not be good for the team’s psychology. We will go for the three points.”
Guinea Bissau played out a goalless draw with Sudan in their first match, losing a penalty awarded late in the game. In matchday two, they lost to a Mohamed Salah goal in a match in which they gave it everything they had and were disappointed not to have been awarded an equaliser that got cancelled out in the game.
“With a little more luck, they could have beaten Sudan and could have drawn with Egypt. That is the kind of opposition we face on Wednesday. Nobody will tell me they’re pushovers,” Eguavoen noted.
Since the country began competing at this level in 1963, the 56-year-old is the only coach to have guided Nigeria to win all three matches in the group stage of AFCON. THEWILL recalls that Eguavoen was the head coach when the Eagles swept the 2006 finals, defeating Ghana 1-0, Zimbabwe 2-0, and Senegal 2-1 at the Al Masry Stadium in Port Said.
As coach, the 1994 AFCON winner and two-time FIFA World Cup squad defender has won 12 of his previous 14 matches, losing only two — a 0-1 setback to Cote d’Ivoire in the 2006 semi-finals and a 2012 AFCON qualifier in Guinea that was marred by doubt and which the squad lost by the odd goal.
The veteran defender was down-to-earth in his response to a forecast that his squad could wind up playing hosts Cameroon in the final match as he assessed his players at training on Sunday morning and then fielded questions from the media. While still active, Eguavoen played in the 1988 final against the Cameroonians in Morocco, which Nigeria lost by a solitary goal, and the 1992 edition’s bronze medal match, which the Super Eagles won 2-1.
“That is still a long way off. We are focused on the match against Guinea Bissau. One game at a time.”
The match kicks off at 8 pm local time.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
