Recently sacked interim coach of the Super Eagles Augustine
Eguavoen has revealed why he dropped Leicester City star Kelechi Iheanacho from
the starting lineup for the Super Eagles 2022 World Cup playoff in Abuja.
Iheanacho failed in his responsibility to stop Ghana
midfielder, Thomas Partey from dictating play in the first leg in Kumasi.
The 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner, the Leicester City
forward was supposed to man-mark the Arsenal midfielder, Partey and also play
behind the main striker Victor Osimhen.
He explained that it was in his plan to introduce Iheanacho
later in the game but things did not go according to plan.
“Iheanacho you saw him a few days ago his performance
against Manchester United, and people were saying Iheanacho stayed too long on
that field,” Eguavoen said on SuperSport’s Monday Night Football.
“Iheanacho we gave him a specific role in Kumasi. In as much
as he’s going to go up there and support Osimhen, he has a duty to perform by
stopping Thomas Partey.
“He’s playing as a second striker because Partey dictates
the game but he was sometimes late in reacting that’s why Partey had those
luxuries.
“Since he didn’t do that, I spoke with him I told him he’ll
start from the bench and at some point he’ll come in”.
Nigeria will not be at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as Ghana overcame them on the away goal rule. They played out a 0-0 draw in Kumasi and recorded a frustrating 1-1 draw in Abuja.
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