Super Eagles caretaker coach, Augustine Eguavoen, has explained the reason behind his decision to bench Victor Osimhen in the team’s 0-0 draw against the Amavubi of Rwanda.
Osimhen was benched for the second consecutive game by Eguavoen. The Galatasaray forward came on to replace Victor Boniface after the break.
“Osimhen is our brother, you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. We know what he is going through in Napoli.
“He just moved to Galatasaray and has not been playing active football for a while now,” Eguavoen told a press conference after the game with Rwanda.
“We are trying to manage his fitness. He played the last 25 minutes in the previous game, and today we had a word with him that he can’t play 90 minutes or else he will get injured.”
Eguavoen also spoke about Awoniyi and other top stars in the team who didn’t get enough minutes.
“Awoniyi, before he came, had few minutes at his club. We have 23 to 40 players we can pick from at any time. We can’t play with all of them,” he added.
“So, it is a difficult one. We have the talent, but we can’t start more than 11 players at a time. We talked about it, the bonding is there, and it is acceptable to everyone.
“Sometimes the players can get frustrated, but we know there is an accord. When you play, give your best; when you are on the bench, do your best to support the team.”
Eguavoen also spoke about his formation for the game.
“I have been saddled with the responsibility of qualifying the team for the next AFCON,” he stated.
“You know all our boys are playing abroad, for big clubs, so it is difficult within three days to prepare the team. We trained for three or four days before the Benin game.
“We then had to come here. It is very difficult to change formation. We don’t have time to play friendlies.
“We used the same formation at AFCON. It’s difficult to change things in this limited time.”
AFCON 2025 qualifier: Eguavoen explains formation vs Rwanda, defends Osimhen’s bench role
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