By Francis Ajuonuma
Former national team handler, Tunde Disu has backed coaches Augustine Eguavoen and Emmanuel Amuneke to succeed with the Super Eagles as the three-time African champions prepare to face the Black Stars of Ghana next month in the final playoff for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Black Stars will host the first leg in Accra on March 23, while the Super Eagles will welcome the Ghanaians at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja on March 29.
Speaking with TNSports on the appointment of Amuneke as Super Eagles chief coach and assistant to Eguavoen, Disu believes that the combination of both ex-international is a perfect match to take Super Eagles to the next level.
According to him, both coaches have coached at the top level which has given them the experience needed to handle a team as big as the Super Eagles. In 2010 Eguavoen was appointed caretaker coach, while Amuneke was the manager of the Tanzania national team from 2018-2019 and qualified them to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.
The former Flying Eagles coach who is known for his 1989 Daman miracle will however advise Amuneke to introduce wingers in the team that the present Super Eagles is lacking.
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“I’m happy with the appointment because it’s an indication that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) now believes in what our indigenous coaches can do. Both Eguavoen and Amuneke have the qualities for the job because they’ve played the game at the highest level and since retirement have been involved in one coaching job or the other and I have no doubt in my mind they will deliver”
On Super Eagles’ round of 16 exit from the recently concluded 2021 AFCON, Disu said: “It’s unfortunate that we exited AFCON in the round of 16 but I can assure you that Eguavoen and Amuneke will prove themselves and show Nigerians what our coaches are capable of doing and urged the NFF to ensure early camping of the team before their game against Black Stars of Ghana.
“ It’s also important that the NFF should call the players to camp early to enable them reflect with the coaching crew and take stoke of what happened in Cameroon and block all loopholes before their game against Ghana” Disu add.
