Super Eagles interim coach, Austin Eguavoen, has resigned from his role as the head coach of the Nigerian national team, as reported by owngoalnigeria.
According to the post, the coach acknowledged that he had a mandate of only two matches to complete and that he had to stick to it.
“My mandate was for two games, and it ends today (against Rwanda),” stated Austin Eguavoen. I appreciate the NFF leadership and my players.
His resignation is coming after Nigeria’s second AFCON 2025 qualifying match against Rwanda, which ended goalless at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.
Toyin Ibitoye, a former media officer for the Super Eagles, has pleaded with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to keep Austin Eguavoen as the national team head coach. Ibitoye made the appeal. after Nigeria and Rwanda drew goallessly in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match on Tuesday. Ibitoye believes that the NFF should let Eguavoen stay in charge of the Super Eagles and stop looking for a foreign coach to take over as head coach.
Austin Eguavoen was named interim coach for the two games after Finidi George resigned from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Bruno Labbadia was named coach, but he turned down the position. Eguavoen was then named the interim coach of the Super Eagles. With a 3-0 victory in his first game against Gernot Rohr’s Benin Republic and a goalless draw.
Eguavoen has now led the Super Eagles three times. During his first assignment in 2005, he helped the national team place third at the 2006 AFCON. Before the AFCON competition in 2021, he took Gernot Rohr’s place and led Nigeria to the round of sixteen before losing to Tunisia. This marked the beginning of his second reign.
Following Nigeria’s loss to the Black Stars of Ghana in the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs. Austin Eguavoen, the temporary coach of the Super Eagles, resigned from his position as the Nigerian national team’s head coach and took up his new position as the technical director of all national teams.
Image Credit: Super Eagles of Nigeria via X