In what is fast becoming Nigerian football's trademark move, one coach qualifies the Super Eagles for a major tournament, and another leads the team to the championship proper. This time, Gernot Rohr vacates the driving seat for Augustine Eguavoen to steer the Eagles into Cameroon 2021.
Three observations can be gleaned from the reactions that have trailed Gernot Rohr's sack.
Rohr's sack is largely a welcomed development. The timing of the German's dismissal, barely four weeks to the 2021 Afcon, is poor. The former Bordeaux manager's replacement, Augustine Eguavoen, is unpopular.
Despite being a member of the all-conquering Super Eagles side that ruled Africa in 1994, Eguavoen's appointment does not inspire much hope in fans.
The reasons for that do not require high-level maths skills to decipher.
The former ACB Lagos defender enjoyed several exciting spells as head coach of a few clubs home and abroad but has won nothing and has barely been at a job for more than two years.
Still, the Nigerian Football Federation has found none more suitable than the former Gent ace as Rohr's replacement.
And barring another knee-jerk reaction by the unpredictable NFF, the 56-year-old will lead Nigeria's charge for a fourth continental crown in Cameroon.
However, it is not the first time Eguavoen would face such a challenge.
Fifteen years ago, Eguavoen was partnered with 2005 World Youth Championship silver-winning coach Samson Siasia and saddled with ensuring a decent outing for Nigeria at the 2006 Afcon.
Putting together a team of old-heads (Okocha, Kanu, Yobo) and greenhorns (Nsofor, Nwaneri, Mikel Obi), Eguavoen led the Eagles to a third-place finish at Egypt '06.
That team was far from being superb, but it was functional and had balls, and it took a Didier Drogba-inspired Ivory Coast to stop it in the semifinals.
With Eguavoen's return to lead another Super Eagles' title hunt with only days to Cameroon 2021, one cannot help but draw parallels between this adventure and his AFCON audition a decade and a half ago.
And here are three things Egypt 2006 taught the football world about the former Sharks FC coach.
Eguavoen has the guts to favour young and in-form players
Of the 23 players Eguavoen took to Egypt in 2006, 16 were aged 23 years and below.
John Mikel Obi, Obinna Nsofor, Sani Kaita, and Paul Obiefule were still in their teens, while Taye Taiwo had only turned 20.
All these players had helped Nigeria reach the final of the WYC in the Netherlands a few months earlier.
Veteran midfielders Austin Okocha and Garba Lawal were the only players in their thirties.
Eguavoen also invited strikers who were making waves in Europe at the time: Inter Milan's Obafemi Martins, Lille's Peter Odemwingie, Portsmouth's Nwankwo Kanu, Shakhtar Donetsk's Julius Aghahowa, and Palermo's Stephen Makinwa.
It can, therefore, be predicted that Eguavoen's final team list to Cameroon would be one that would make Eagles' fans proud.
Eguavoen likes his team to be hard to beat
With Nigeria having lost the 2006 World Cup ticket to Angola on the head-to-head rule, confidence in the team was at an all-time low.
But Eguavoen managed to forge a team that was tough to beat.
Nigeria, placed in a tough group with Ghana, Senegal, and Zimbabwe, rekindled title hopes by grinding out three victories in the group stages, scoring five and conceding one.
Tunisia found the West African side a hard nut to crack in the quarterfinals before Didier Drogba struck the knockout blow in the semifinals.
If anything, Eguavoen's Eagles will not be disgraced in Cameroon.
Uninspiring Eguavoen is no tactical novice
With Okocha struggling with match fitness and Kanu mainly kept on the bench, there was no swagger in the Eagles midfield and almost zero creativity in attack at the 2006 Afcon.
But Joseph Yobo provided solidity in defence, Christian Obodo was full of industry in the middle of the park, and, in attack, Martins constantly sniffed out chances in Eguavoen's adapted 4-3-3.
The coach, though, showed his tactical nous in the Eagles' last Group D game against Senegal.
Nigeria needed a draw to guarantee the top spot, but the Eagles fell behind on the hour-mark to a Souleymane Camara effort.
Eguavoen's introduction of Kanu, Nsofor, and Lawal in the second half changed the complexion of the tie as Martins struck twice to hand the Eagles a 2-1 win.
Eguavoen, however, could not repeat the trick when Drogba gave the Ivory Coast the lead in the semifinals. But he still put a solid team in place that defeated Senegal again in the third-place match.
Afcon 2021 presents Eguavoen with a rare second chance to correct his Afcon 2006 mistakes and take the Super Eagles past that glorious finish line.
I must say this, coach Gernot Roh should have been given this chance!!! To win a trophy with the team he has built, NFF you people like the habit of taking 1step forward and then 3 step backward. I must tell you, you people cheated Gernot roh
The sack was long overdue! Wrong time though! They did the right thing at the wrong time.
Broth. Adetony Oga Rhor tenure has been vanished far and far , so you must forget this though which return him back to lead Super Eagles in Afcon. Cup in Cameroon; Rhor is clueless , haven’t any thing to offer for SE now, he hasn’t any pattern of playing to do it , he was refusing quality and strong players at SE team just like : Dennis, Oboabona, Azubuiki Okechukwu, Amoo, Ejaria, Sadiq Umar ,Dessers, Usman Mohammed, James Igbikemi, Alhassan Ibrahim; and depends and recalls weak and shaky players who haven’t any soul , enthusiasm , combating soul like: Troost Ekong, Leon Balogun, Kelechi Iheancho, Oghenekaro Etebo, Samuel Kalu, Daniel Akpiye, Paul Onuachu, Kevin Akpoguma; so Nigerian fans must forget this old man who can lead SE to a disaster in Afcon. Cup.
I just shake my head so oboabona should be invited can u imagine what u are saying
oboabona ke
u are saying thrash. i saw ur other comment also,aw can u say ihanacho,etebo,ekong，onachu and the rest u listed are weak players
Good archive file bite for the present dispersal.
Cerezo has ntin to do with this SE squad he has no magic to pull than SE performing badly with the help of NFF. Coming to tell us they lack enough time to prepare the boys after sacking a coach in an eve of a tonarment bringing someone who has not been coaching for the last five or four year ago to us to a big tonarment am surprised by the decision making of NFF technical board led by Amaju pinnick.
We keep doing the same thing and expect a tangible results.
In 2002 omodu qualified us for world cup but was replaced by onigbinde & the result wasn’t palatable at all.
In 2010 omodu again qualified us for world cup only to be replaced by largaberg and we got what we never expected.
We’re toeing the same line again and we think we’ll get something different….
I pray garma doesn’t catch us bcos the writing on the wall is not favourable at all
You can’t satisfy Nigerians. They called for Rohr’s sack, it was granted. It doesn’t matter the time it was done as it was better late than never. It would have been a serious disaster if we allowed Rohr to continue. The signs were there for all to see. The Eagles that used to play exciting football a couple of years ago started struggling against minnows. For anyone that wants to argue, check these results out. Some results before 2020 Nigeria 4 – 0 Cameroon (reigning African champions as at then), Nigeria 3 – 1 Algeria, Nigeria 1- 1 Brazil, Poland 0 – 1 Nigeria, Iceland 0 – 2 Nigeria, Zambia 1 – 2 Nigeria etc. Results after 2020: Nigeria 4 – 4 Sierra Leone (Nigeria throwing away a four goal lead), Nigeria 0 – 1 CAR, Liberia 0 – 2 Nigeria (very boring performance with Nigeria needing two penalties to win). The list of boring performances continues but my hands are hurting already.
Pls let’s watch the friendly we played against Argentina, I mean the second half of the match and see a different super eagles, pls where’s Bryan Idowu, what is shehu, akpeyi, ighalo,Jamiu Collins still doing in the national team, I tel you this, if Eguavoen or anyone who wanna be super eagles coach at Afcon can try not to invite these players have mention then we will win…..now that we have very and very good players like oshimen, Dennis,dessers,ebuchi,onyeka, zaidu sanusi, awoniyi etc….before I forget, we don’t need victor moses anymore