AFCON: Eguavoen and Iheanacho lead the road to redemption for Nigeria

It had to be him. This felt right and so did the stage. This felt deserved, too. There was some sort of poetic justice to all of it. “I’m a confident player and I keep going,” Kelechi Iheanacho said, but he hadn’t always been this confident. “He is lacking in confidence,” Gernot Rohr said in 2019 before shutting the Africa Nations Cup (Afcon) door against the Leicester City forward. It’s 2022 and on his debut Afcon tournament, against Egypt- the most successful African team- Iheanacho scored the winning goal and won the man of the match award. Rohr, on the other hand, was shown the door a month before the start of the tournament.

The clock showed 29.50 and the ball had just zipped past Mohamed El Shenawy. With two taped fingers in between his lips, Iheanacho trotted to the touchline, knelt and pointed to the sky. Beside him was Taiwo Awoniyi doing the same. Teammates as teenagers in 2013 at the U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and here they were, once again, nine years later on the biggest of stages, smiling at each other. Austin Eguavoen, wearing an unusual smile, turned to congratulate his assistants.

Iheanacho and Awoniyi celebrating

Eguavoen had only been appointed 28 days before the tournament. He had been given the job (for a month) but he didn’t have to do a job really. Jose Peseiro had already been employed permanently and the Portuguese was somewhere in the stands waiting to take over immediately after the Afcon.

Eguavoen didn’t have the luxury of time to ensure team cohesion and if he knew some of the lads, it was from afar, as the Technical Director of the country’s Football Federation. Nor did he have the luxury of some of his “best” players. Victor Osimhen and Emmanuel Dennis had pulled out for respective reasons. Odion Ighalo who had just been called out of retirement by Rohr could not sort out his contract issues with his club Al-Shabab. Leon Balogun was injured, too.

The fans had become less confident, more pessimistic- resigned. Instead, Eguavoen was even more positive. And if his face didn’t show it on Tuesday, his team did. Unfazed by the pressure of the fans or the pedigree of the opposition, they cruised. Yet, there he was, standing on the touchline in a freshly laundered white long-sleeved shirt, sleeves folded to the elbows, arms crossed, straight-faced- partly irritated- like a dad waiting at the school’s car park for his mettlesome kids.

Eguavoen is on the way to bringing back the smiles to Nigerians

“Nobody cares what happened before. From the blast of the whistle, nobody wants to hear excuses,” Eguavoen said before the tournament. It didn’t matter what happened 16 years ago when he took over the Super Eagles in similar circumstances, with 14 days to go and delivered a Bronze medal. It didn’t matter what happened with his predecessor and the nature of his sack. It didn’t matter who was and wasn’t available to play. At the end of 90 minutes, Tuesday, against Egypt, he had been proven right. He didn’t care and nor did the players.

For much of the first 45 minutes, Moses Simon was on the left, dipping, swerving, changing paces all at once. For once, playing for Nigeria didn’t seem like a chore. He was enjoying the football and Nigerians were enjoying him too. Iheanacho was receiving the ball in dangerous spaces and affecting the attack in dynamic ways- creating chances and forcing saves. Joe Aribo was disciplined, choosing his moments to advance and withdraw. Wilfred Ndidi was winning tackles and protecting the defence. Omeruo and William Troost Ekong were picking turns to handle Mohamed Salah, limiting the forward to a handful of touches (14 in the first half) and only one chance. It was exciting and it was good. A new lease of life was here again, optimism returning, happiness arriving.

Yet, it was all in the simplicity of the roles and instructions- basic and uncomplicated. It was in each player playing in more familiar positions and taking responsibility. With limited preparation, it seemed the more logical thing to do. Even then, in reality, it wasn’t so straightforward. The stage was big and some of these players, under Rohr, had played with cold feet, showing a lack of mentality. It was about seizing the time and the moment, playing for the country, yet playing for themselves.

Asked about the disrespect the Afcon faces, especially from the Europeans, Iheanacho said: “We need to keep doing our best and showing that Africa deserves more. We need to prove that our competition is underrated by doing extraordinary things on the pitch, by scoring goals, by performing well. When we do that, it will speak for itself.” On the half-hour mark when he controlled the ball on his thigh and volleyed into the top corner, he showed just that. Africa truly deserves more.