Eguavoen takes charge as Super Falcons coach for Olympic qualifiers

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has named Augustine Eguavoen as the interim coach of the Super Falcons. This comes ahead of their Olympic Games qualifying matches against Comoros in October 2023.

Eguavoen, who is also called ‘Cerezo’, will lead the team temporarily while they look for a permanent coach.

He brings a lot of coaching experience to the job. He was the head coach of the Super Eagles and led the team to win a bronze medal at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Christopher Danjuma will assist Eguavoen. He is the current head coach of Nasarawa Amazons, a team in the Nigeria Women’s Football League. Danjuma has worked with Nigeria’s women’s national teams, including coaching the Falconets at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

Olatunji Baruwa will be the goalkeeper trainer. He has experience with many of Nigeria’s national teams, including the Super Eagles, CHAN Eagles, Flying Eagles, and Golden Eaglets.

Ayisat Yusuf, a former Super Falcons defender, will also be one of the assistant coaches. Yusuf played 68 times for Nigeria and took part in four Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, three FIFA Women’s World Cups, and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Super Falcons, who have won the African championship 10 times, will kick off their Olympic qualifying campaign in the second round against Comoros. The matches are set for the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo on 9 and 13 October.

Nigeria got a bye into the second round as one of the three highest-ranked teams in the qualifying competition. Comoros advanced after beating Sudan 30-0 on aggregate.

To qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Nigeria must win four rounds of two-legged knockout matches. If they beat Comoros, they will move on to the third round, which will take place from 23 February to 6 March 2027. There, they will face either the Democratic Republic of Congo or Morocco.

In the fourth round, Nigeria could meet either Tunisia, Senegal, Benin Republic, or Mali between 4 and 12 October 2027.

The final round of the qualifying series is set for 23 November to 4 December 2027. Nigeria may face Guinea, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Algeria, or Burkina Faso at that point.