Super Eagles Handler Augustine Eguavoen Breaks Silence As Nigeria Set Up AFCON Round of 16 Clash With Tunisia

Super Eagles Handler Augustine Eguavoen Breaks Silence As Nigeria Set Up AFCON Round of 16 Clash With Tunisia

Babajide Orevba
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:54 PM
In this article:
CAF Africa Cup of Nations logo
CAF AFCON
Africa
  • Nigeria vs Tunisia is billed for the Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua as both teams clash in the Round of 16 at AFCON 2021
  • Super Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguavoen has disclosed that it will not be an easy task against the Carthage Eagles
  • Eguavoen admits that Tunisia is a big name when it comes to African football and the Eagles must not be complacent

Super Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguavoen has cautioned his side ahead of their AFCON 2021 Round of 16 clash against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.

Group D winners Nigeria will face one of the best losers and Group F third-placed team, Tunisia, for a place in the last eight of the continental showpiece.

Both teams, led by indigenous coaches will file out on Sunday at the Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua as they continue to chase the coveted title.

Augustine Eguavoen
Augustine Eguavoen wary of Tunisia in AFCON 2021 Round of 16 showdown. Photo: Daniel Beloumou Olomo
Source: Getty Images

What Eguavoen said

Eguavoen, who had 51 caps for the Super Eagles did not face Tunisia as a player, but he was head coach of the Super Eagles when Nigeria upended the Carthage Eagles via penalty shootout in Port Said in Egypt 16 years ago to send the Cup holders out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage.

And ahead of Sunday’s fixture, Eguavoen said via The NFF:

“I expect a very tough game against the Tunisians. Our group will not be lulled into any sense of superiority over any team here until we do the business on the field.
"Tunisia is a big name in African football and we must acknowledge that, despite the manner in which they reached this stage.
“We have watched some of their games and from what we know of them in the distant past and in lucid memory, they are never a team to take for granted.”

Otedola to splash cash on Eagles

A Nigerian billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has disclosed that he will dole out the equivalent of $250,000 in naira (N102,895,000) to the Super Eagles if they win the 2021 AFCON title.

Having scored six goals in the group stage of the competition, the Ahmed Musa-captained side will also receive N49,389,600 ($120,000), thanks to the Coalition Against COVID-19.

A private sector-led platform, CACOVID, which was set up to assist the federal government in combating Covid-19 issues in the country, had promised to reward the national team the naira equivalent of $20,000 for each goal scored in the group stage and that has been increased to $50,000.

Iheanacho missing in Eagles’ training

Sports Brief earlier reported that Nigeria’s preparation Leicester City’s top marksman Kelechi Iheanacho was missing in the Super Eagles training due to an injury scare.

The forward has been in inspiring form for Nigeria at the ongoing AFCON bagging the Man of the Match award in the Super Eagles' first game against Egypt.

Iheanacho was also phenomenal in the Eagles final group game against Guinea-Bissau as he assisted Nigeria’s first goal sliding a perfect through ball for Sadiq Umar to tap in.

Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
Tags
World