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For the 2nd time, Black Stars become Eguavoen’s albatross

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Interim manager of the Super Eagles, Austin Eguavoen threw in the towel after the Nigerian team failed to make the qualification to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

This is the second time, Ghana will be the last team Eguavoen faced in his last tenure as Nigeria’s manager.

The former Super Eagles’ right-sided defender was an interim coach who took over from Christian Chukwu after a 1-1 draw at home with Angola – a match that proved to be the main reason for Nigeria’s inability to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

Eguavoen was handed the responsibility of prosecuting the Super Eagles’ remaining two matches in the series – just as he had to do for the qualification for the 2022 edition.

He was the one who handed Mikel Obi his debut Super Eagles’ appearance in a 1-0 preparatory 17  August 2005 match with Libya in Tripoli ahead of the World Cup qualifier with Algeria in Oran.

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In the 2006 qualifiers, though a defender as a player, Eguavoen proved to be offensive inclined coach as Nigeria scored a massive 10-goal defeat of Algeria and Zimbabwe beating Algeria away 5-2 and Zimbabwe 5-1 in Abuja.

He later had a run of 10 matches before his interim tenure was terminated following the appointment of Germany’s Berti Vogts who signed his Nigerian contract in London on 7 February 2007.

He was thus displaced by a German just as in 14 years later, he ‘equalised’ by also displacing a German – Gernot Rohr.

On the eve of handing over to Vogts in London, Eguavoen led the Super Eagles to face Ghana in London.

Ghana won the 6 February match 4-1. Thus, the two interim tenures of Equavoen were terminated by matches with Ghana.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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