In what seems like a dig at Rohr, Eagles’ vice-captain Troost-Ekong has described Eguavoen’s appointment as a breath of fresh air
By Kehinde Okeowo
Watford defender and Eagles’ vice-captain William Troost-Ekong has put the turnaround in the performance of the Super Eagles to the desire of the players to impress their new manager.
Describing the appointment of Eguavoen as ‘fresh air, the Premier League defender argued that the team was not as bad as their results toward the end of the tenure of the last manager.
Rohr was sacked by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) a few weeks before the commencement of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after a series of poor results during the World cup qualifying rounds.
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He was replaced by Technical Director, Austine Eguavoen on an interim basis. NFF has since appointed a permanent replacement for Rohr, in the person of Jose Peseiro who is expected to take over from the stand-in coach after AFCON.
However, Eguavoen has won over the faithful of the team who have been impressed not just by the results but also by the way the Eagles are playing at the ongoing AFCON, where they have won their first two games.
The team topped the group with a game to spare and will tomorrow take on Guinea Bissau in a dead rubber tie to the Nigerian team.
Speaking with reporters in Cameroon on Tuesday, Troost-Ekong said Eguavoen has brought something “more special” to the squad.
He added that “everyone is really enjoying themselves at the moment” and “fighting to show themselves”.
“I don’t think there have been any surprises in our performances from the part of the team. I think we all kept that belief. We’ve had a couple of hiccups along the way in recent months, but despite that, and due respect to every opponent that we play against, we still managed to qualify for the AFCON and the playoffs of the World Cup qualifiers,” the Super Eagles defender said.
“Of course, we haven’t been satisfied the same way the fans in Nigeria have been, but that’s all part of football, and I believe you can’t guarantee the same great game all the time, but the only thing you can guarantee is for everyone to put their effort in to be a winner.”
He added, “I don’t think there are any surprises. We have kept that belief in the team. We still managed to qualify for AFCON and pulled through to the World Cup playoffs.
” You can’t guarantee the same game all the time. With the new coach, there is fresh air. Everyone wants to prove themselves.
“And of course, with our new coach, it’s been a breath of fresh air. Everyone is fighting to show themselves, and everyone is really enjoying themselves at the moment. And maybe that’s more special than what it was before.”
Eguavoen will be hoping to go into the knockout stages with all nine points from the group stage when the Eagles face Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday.
