Interim coach of the Nigerian team Austine Eguavoen has revealed the secret behind their slim 1-0 win over Egypt at the ongoing 2021 delayed Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Eguavoen in his first competitive game as coach of the Nigerian team masterminded what has been described as the best football exhibited by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a long while.
The coach was flexible in the usage of 4-2-3-1 which becomes 4-4-2 when in possession and by so doing leave the Egyptians with difficulties on how to cope with the wing play of the Super Eagles.
Beyond the tactics, the coach also revealed some personal talks and knowledge about yesterday’s opponent which made the win possible but calls for concentration ahead of their second group game against Sudan.
“I’d like to congratulate my players, we had respect for Egypt and we just played our game Egypt only played on giving Salah spaces to run, it’s their only play, so we just had to keep the ball away from him”, he stated.
“Salah is one of the best players in the world, the strategy wasn’t a specific marker, but we instructed the players to close him down at any time and they must be a second player behind the marker”, he further explained.
On what he told the players before the game, he said his emphasis was mainly on giving their best for the cause as demanded of them in the national colours of Nigeria.
“The same set of players, every coach have their style, philosophy and leadership. I told the players to see me as their brother and father, my assistant I called them my colleagues. We have a path towards the same direction, we have the privilege to serve the country and we must always give our best.
“We did everything in the game, every game is a finale to us. We won our first game, now we are focused on the upcoming clashes”, he concluded.