Interim Super Eagles manager, Augustine Eguavoen, has explained why he chose to pick out-of-form strikers, Kelechi Iheanacho and Sadiq Umar, ahead of other Nigerian forwards who’ve been amongst the goals in Europe this season, Soccernet.ng reports.
Victor Osimhen rescued a point for Nigeria against the Republic of Benin. In a game where three strikers were on the pitch, only Osimhen had a shot on target, while Boniface and Iheanacho failed to impress.
Many eyes were raised when Eguavoen included Sadiq Umar and Kelechi Iheanacho in his AFCON 2025 squadlist for their November qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.
This is because the La Liga duo have struggled to impress for their club side, and with better options at the moment, it seemed odd for the team’s coach to invite them, but he explained why.
“I have had to stick with the players I know, it will be difficult to play those I have not worked with previously because of the short time to prepare for these matches. We have had only three, four days for these matches, so the time is not there (to look closer at new players).
Time is my biggest challenge because the calendar is so choked. I want to improve our large pool of players, so that we could have capable replacements.
We should be patient. When we have friendlies, we will try to bring some new players and work with them. I know Nigerians love this game so much, but sometimes we’re not patient,” Eguavoen told Eagle7fm Sports Radio as monitored by Soccernet.ng.
Sadiq Umar’s last goal for club and country came against Granada in March. His only goal involvement for Real Sociedad this season in all competitions is an assist in the UEFA Europa League against Anderlecht in October.
Kelechi Iheanacho, on the other hand, is without a league goal in club football for the past year.
Meanwhile, Cyriel Dessers, Tolu Arokodare, Chuba Akpom, and Josh Maja, have had a sizeable number of goals for their club sides in Europe this season.