14th July, 2010
Stand-in Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavoen has disclosed that a new-look senior national team that will meet the expectations of soccer-loving Nigerians will soon be revealed by the technical crew of the team led by Lars Lagerback.
Eguavoen offered a ray of hope for football enthusiasts, who have been clamouring for an entirely new Super Eagles, saying that Nigeria will present a new team against Madagascar in a qualifying match for the 2012 African Cup of Nations in September.
Before the new-look Eagles, the ex-international said the bulk of players that represented Nigeria at the just concluded 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa will still form the nucleus of the team expected to play South Korea in an international friendly on 11 August in Seoul
The former Enyimba of Aba coach said the time frame between now and the friendly tie is too short to start recruiting players, while insisting that it would be wrong to parade an entirely new side against the Asian side.
Asked to reveal some of the Super Eagles stars who are lucky to be in the frame for a return to international glory with Nigeria, the former Torpedo Moscow of Russia star submitted that this would be the decision of his boss, Swede Lars Lagerback, who is on holiday.
“My boss has the final say on the players that will be recalled to the national team, and I have to wait for him to take the decision. What if he comes and decides otherwise?†he asked.
He noted that though the expectation of the majority of Nigerians is that a new-look Eagles should have been used for the friendly game, there is no time to raise a formidable team for the encounter.
“It’ll be difficult to assemble a new team for the Eagles for the friendly game. But I want to assure Nigerians that we have a long time plan to comb the local league for new players for the senior national team,†he said.
In the meantime, interim Chairman of the Technical Committee of the NFF, Dominic Iorfa, has backed Austin Eguavoen’s decision not to disclose the identity of the players the technical crew hopes to draw from the old team for the August 11 friendly date against South Korea. The former QPR of England forward pleaded for time to allow the board tie up loose ends regarding the friendly and the contract of Swede manager, Lars Lagerback.