ANDREW EKEJIUBA

Following Super Eagles’ final 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier loss to Rwanda, interim coach Austin Eguavoen emphasized the need for a creative player to boost Nigeria’s goal-scoring ability, placing Alex Iwobi and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru under the spotlight.

The Fulham midfielder and the Lazio ace are the two attacking midfielders in the squad presently- they recorded just one goal contribution between them in the qualification campaign which affected the output of the star-studded attackers.

Despite boasting reigning African Men’s Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen, one of his potential successors Ademola Lookman, Victor Boniface and other brilliant forwards in the continent, the Super Eagles showed a lack of cutting edge in the qualifiers.

They finished the campaign with nine goals, but three came from the opening fixture with Benin, and another three were handed to them on a platter of gold by the Confederation of African Football.

The Super Eagles scored just once over two legs against Rwanda and netted a goal in their home fixture with Libya and the away game with Benin.

When asked about why the Super Eagles forwards are not scoring enough goals in his post-match conference after the defeat to Rwanda, Eguavoen revealed that they will score more with a creative player, throwing doubts about his confidence in Dele-Bashiru and Iwobi.

“I mean goals win games; we all know that. They are scoring goals in their clubside, they are scoring goals in training, when it comes to the game, they don’t score goals. We keep asking the same questions,” Eguavoen said with a tinge of regret.

“You know there are some players who can make a difference who can just put the ball into space for them to go to the goal. We are still looking for such players, who have that flair, creativity, who is a good playmaker who can probably put the ball into space for them.”

Super Eagles are yet to get the best out of their star-studded forwards to stand a chance of qualifying Nigeria for the 2026 Fifa World Cup and also win the next edition of AFCON.

Meanwhile, Eguavoen has suggested that the news of Nwabali’s father’s passing may have had an emotional impact on the team following their 2-1 loss to Rwanda in Uyo.

In his post-match comments, Eguavoen acknowledged that the emotional toll from the news of Nwabali’s father’s passing might have affected the players, potentially influencing the outcome of the match.

“In a way, I think the passing of Nwabali’s father may have affected the players because such personal losses inevitably impact players. But I think any player that is invited among the squad is capable of playing,” Eguavoen stated.

He emphasized that every player in the squad is given an opportunity to showcase their abilities and contribute to the team’s efforts.

“So, people need to get their chance, they got their chance today but unfortunately, we fought for it but it wasn’t to be.”

The victory is seen as a significant boost for Rwanda ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria in March 2025 as the country’s World Cup qualification hopes are hanging by a thread after a string of poor performances.