AFCON 2021: Eguavoen reveals why Amoo did not replace Ighalo

The 32-year-old attacker will not represent Nigeria at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, but the team cannot call up a replacement 

Super Eagles coach Austin Eguavoen said he considered calling-up former Golden Eaglets star Akinkunmi Amoo to replace Odion Ighalo.

Ighalo was included in the Super Eagles AFCON 2021 28-man squad but had to drop out after his team Al-Shabab prevented him from linking up with his colleagues.

The Saudi Arabian club denied Ighalo the chance to travel because Ighalo’s invitation from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) came in late.

It is a similar situation to that of Emmanuel Dennis, who also had to drop out after Watford denied him the opportunity to travel.

However, while Eguavoen was able to call up a replacement for Dennis, he could not invite a new player as a replacement for Ighalo.

The 56-year-old tactician revealed he wanted to call up Amoo or last season’s top scorer in the NPFL Silas Nwankwo as a replacement for the ex-Man Utd star, but his request was blocked by CAF.

“We wanted to call up Silas Nwankwo or Akinwunmi Amoo to replace Ighalo, but CAF insisted that we can’t because the change isn’t injury-enforced,” Eguavoen told the media on Thursday.

The Super Eagles begin their AFCON campaign with a clash against Mohamed Salah’s Egypt on Tuesday.