IKENWA NNABUOGOR hails interim Super Eagles coach Augustine Eguavoen for “slaying” Egypt and cheers him on to equal some records at this AFCON…
Preparations ahead of 2021 Cameroon Africa Cup of Nations were far from adequate as withdrawals occasioned by injuries as well as club vs country rows meant some key players were not available, but coach Augustine Eguavoen did not waver.
No one expected the Super Eagles, who had escaped causing heart attacks to fans during sacked Gernot Rohr’s days, to be a totally different team who taught the highly-revered AFCON record winners some football lessons.
Eguavoen even surprised himself by winning this tactical and technical warfare and leaving mighty Egypt looking so ordinary and praying against a heavy defeat.
Eagles refused to look like a team that had a lot missing for them: star striker Victor Osimhen held back by his club Napoli, whose narratives of not fully recovered from cheek bone injury and testing negative to Covid-19 were more academic than clinical; comebacking Odion Ighalo kept back in Saudi Arabia and injury-forced withdrawals by Leon Balogun and Paul Onuachu, threatened to make the team look ordinary.
Eguavoen’s plans were clearly close to his heart and he wasn’t moved by Egypt coach Carlos Queros’s bold statements ahead of the big January 11 clash which was seen as the mother of all battles in Cameroon.
Not even spilling some to the press, Eguavoen’s best kept secret was effectively “shutting out” Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah, whose scoring record for club and country has often struck fear into the meanest of defences around the world.
Salah will never forget the group opener in a hurry as the Eguavoen’s men in the rear effectively kept him quiet and ultimately made the seven-time African champions look like a team who had just laboured to qualify for their debut AFCON.
Part of Eguavoen’s Made in Garoua soccer philosophies was playing direct and keeping the ball which proved so problematic to the bewildered Pharaohs, who failed to overcome the rampaging Eagles.
Eguavoen also welcomed back the wing play for which Eagles were dreaded during the country’s golden era of the 90s and used it effectively to cause problems to the Egyptian defence, who suffered especially in the hands of trickery and pacy FC Nantes winger Moses Simon.
So brutal was Moses Simon, who also sent right full back Akram Tawfim to an early shower, that most of the Eagles attacks were launched from his left wing which also led to the Kelechi Iheanacho’s well-taken match winner.
One prominent Simon’s feeder was captain, cannon fodder and a pair of the “Oyinbo Wall”, William Troost-Ekong, who still found time out of his busy Salah-shutting-out schedule to direct his delightful long passes into the path of the quick winger to keep the Pharaohs defence on their toes.
Eagles midfield was also not left out of the resurgence that swept through the Eagles as Scottish Premier League champion Joe Aribo shipped in a bagful of creativity from Ibrox Park, which was supported by grafter Wilfred Ndidi in the defence shield and upfront by Iheanacho.
Where were Mohammed El-Neny and Trezeguet, who also boarded same flight from the UK as their Eagles midfield adversaries to Garoua?
The answers to this poser could take some time to come.
For the first time in years, the Eagles were playing with breathtaking confidence reminiscent of the Super Eagles of the 90s and the North Africans are yet to believe that they could capitulate so easily without putting up a fight.
So, where will this giant killing by Eguavoen take the Eagles?
Has ‘Cerezo’ brought Eagles to their much desired winning ways?
The Eagles that killed Egypt do not look like one-game wonder and this is Cerezo’s AFCON second coming and he will stop at nothing to make the most of it.
The former Torpedo Moscow utility player was in charge 16 years ago at the AFCON in Egypt and painfully fell to Didier Drogba’s controversial goal to end his sweet run which climaxed with a bronze finish.
He is also chasing some records – winning the competition both as a player and as a coach like Mahmoud El-Ghahouri and Stephen Keshi as well as a fourth AFCON title will also see Nigeria matching Ghana’s exploits at this tournament.
Interestingly, ‘Cerezo’ has set a standard for himself at AFCON and not winning all his group stage games will not be good enough for the man who achieved a 100 percent record in 2006 before Cote d’Ivoire eventually stopped him.
Sudan and Guinea Bissau are his next tests in Garoua and nothing short of victories will be expected.
The coming days will determine this, but before then take a bow ‘Cerezo’ for first stopping Mo Salah and proud Egypt.
