AFCON 2021: Joy for Eguavoen, misery for Queiroz
Super Eagles interim coach Augustin Eguavoen left Stade Omnisport de Garoua a happy and relieved man. His Super Eagles showed that Egyptian lethal striker Mohammed Salah can be silenced. The Liverpool man tried but could not find the back of the Nigerian net.
Senior man Kelechi Iheanacho overshadowed fellow Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez as Nigeria made a winning start to their Africa Cup of Nations campaign and title-holders Algeria were held.
The Leicester City forward scored the only goal on 30 minutes as Nigeria overcame a lackluster Egypt 1-0 in a clash of Group D big guns in the northwestern city of Garoua.
It was sweet victory for the Nigerians as they got their campaign off to a solid start. That also placed Eguavoen on the road to becoming only the third man in history to win the Africa Cup of Nations as both player and a coach. The first was Egyptian Mahmoud El Gohary, then late Nigerian legend Stephen Keshi.
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Yes it’s early days to even start talking about Nigeria winning the 2021 Afcon but who can blame Lagos for believing after such a big scalp in the Pharaohs.
For Egypt coach Carlos Quieroz the nightmare continued, and the supporters made their displeasure even more apparent. The Portuguese coach could not contain himself and even had to be restrained from confronting the jeering fans.
The displeasure will get even louder should the Pharaohs get anything less than victory against the feisty Guinea-Bissau on Saturday.