January 05, (THEWILL) – Augustine Eguavoen, the interim head coach of the Super Eagles, has justified the non-inclusion of a good number of home-based players in his squad for the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.
Only one player from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), Enyimba International’s goalkeeper John Noble, made it into Eguavoen’s 28-man roster for the tournament.
In his defence, the former defender explained why in a virtual media session on Tuesday, saying: “The challenge for us is the little time we have to prepare for the competition. That didn’t give us room to invite more home-based players.
“I initially wanted to include four or five players from the NPFL in the team, but there was no way we could do that with the limited time we have to prepare for the competition.”
Eguavoen emphasised the point by insisting that the late Stephen Keshi, who employed the services of five domestic league players to win the 2013 AFCON in South Africa, was able to pull it off because he had adequate time to train with the NPFL players.
“During Keshi’s time, they had enough time to prepare the team. The team spent quality time together and also played friendly games.”
The coach also expressed the hope that Odion Ighalo’s club in Saudi Arabia, Al Shabab, will release him and allow him to join the rest of the squad in Cameroon.
On Tuesday, the Eagles will kick off their AFCON 2021 campaign against Egypt, seven-time continental Champions. Sudan and Guinea Bisau join Nigeria in Group D.
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.
