Eguavoen to select from Rohr’s 40-man list

Interim Nigeria national team coach Augustine Eguavoen has revealed that his player selection for the Africa Cup of Nations will be based on the preliminary 40-man list submitted by his predecessor, Gernot Rohr.

Rohr was axed from his post as Super Eagles boss this past weekend, ending a near five-and-a-half year tenure at the head of the team.

Eguavoen will take the reins on a temporary basis, leading the Super Eagles at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon in January and February, and he has already admitted that he will not be straying too far from Rohr’s plans.

The German tactician submitted a preliminary 40-man squad list for the tournament to the Confederation of African Football last month.

“The list is out, and we’ve talked about it,” Eguavoen said in an interview with Soccernet.

“The list goes to CAF, so it is from there we are going to see how we get the details back home.

“So it is from that we are going to pick the players, the list Gernot Rohr submitted.”

Nigeria are three-time AFCON champions – most recently in 2013 – but Eguavoen refused to confirm whether there is a mandate to claim a fourth continental crown in the coming weeks.

“I don’t think I wanna answer that because somebody is going to war, you’re asking the person what’s your objective in going to war. I think such question[s] shouldn’t come up,” said the interim coach.

Nigeria open their AFCON campaign with a group stage clash against fellow heavyweights Egypt on January 11.