EGUAVOEN SPEAKS

oluwaseye the 1st. · Post by **oluwaseye the 1st.** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:09 pm

Oruma axe baffles coach

By Osasu Obayiuwana
BBC Sport, Monastir, Tunisia

Nigeria assistant manager Austin Eguavoen believes midfielder Wilson Oruma should have been given a chance to fight for a place in the squad.
Oruma was omitted from the Super Eagles' Cup of Nations squad, a situation former captain Equavoen was not happy with.

"I feel very bad about Oruma not being given a chance to fight for a place in this team," Eguavoen told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview on Saturday

"Left to me, Oruma would have a place in this team or at least been given a chance to fight for a shirt."

Eguavoen admitted that Oruma, who plays for French first division side Sochaux, has been in good form but said he was unable to persuade manager Christian Chukwu to extend an invitation to Oruma.

"I talked about Oruma's inclusion with the manager, as did Bitrus Bewerang (Nigeria's other assistant coach).

"We discussed this matter before we went to Portugal and he said that we would talk about it more when we got there.

"When we raised the matter in Portugal, he felt that Oruma, Nwankwo Kanu and Jay-Jay Okocha all played in central midfield and that there was no room for three central midfielders in the squad, so Oruma had to be left out.

"As Chukwu is the manager of this team, the final decision rests with him," Eguavoen said.

Eguavoen also declared he was surprised by the decision of Kanu to travel from England for a personal appearance at a promotional event for a milk company in Nigeria.

"I was not aware that Kanu was in Nigeria until he was in Lagos," Eguavoen said.

Kanu's colleagues were in Portugal preparing for the Cup of Nations at the time he made the surprise trip, which was after the official deadline for reporting for international duty.

The midfielder's conduct has raised questions over the level of discipline amongst national team members, as the Arsenal player had only been given leave to remain in England to play Premiership and Cup games.

"From the outside, people looking in would think that there is a lack of discipline [in the national team]," Eguavoen said.

"I can understand why people are unhappy with this behaviour.

"But this is a matter for the manager," Eguavoen said.

Riche007 · Post by **Riche007** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:11 pm

Too late......u guys chose mediocrity over excellence.

Staff Sgt Cota VI · Post by **Staff Sgt Cota VI** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:12 pm

Kanu a Central Midfielder? That CCC Is really a goat.

oloye · Post by **oloye** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:15 pm

Here we go wahala don enter the camp, it is all over. Eguavoen don say na CCC no allow Oruma, e don finish. Criticising you boss b4 the press is the first sign that something is amiss. Guys fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

Its a Goal · Post by **Its a Goal** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:15 pm

No way CCC will ever claim Kanu is a central midfielder. No way. I refuse to believe it. I know CCC is clueless but he can't be that crazy. What? Left out Oruma for Kanu. I am getting mad now

.

Its a Goal · Post by **Its a Goal** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:16 pm

oloye, how can you enjoy such ride? I am just so pissed off right now.

Talk IT · Post by **Talk IT** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:17 pm

Staff Sgt Cota VI wrote:Kanu a Central Midfielder? That CCC Is really a goat.

U see the insistence on playing kanu is waht is causing all the confusion. Foer 4 tournament he didn't score as a striker hence it was too obvious still trying to play him up front. So instaed of benching him we insist on fitting him into the team forgetting a team needs balance and the midfielders should be the energetic players. kanu as central mifielder ah

Guv007 · Post by **Guv007** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:17 pm

Is Eguavoen distancing himself from CCC team selection?

marloski · Post by **marloski** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:18 pm

Hmnn,trust Niger man.He don dey comot himself from equation.BRILLIANT.

shaq · Post by **shaq** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:19 pm

did someone say clueless?

Riche007 · Post by **Riche007** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:19 pm

Its a Goal wrote:No way CCC will ever claim Kanu is a central midfielder. No way. I refuse to believe it. I know CCC is clueless but he can't be that crazy. What? Left out Oruma for Kanu. I am getting mad now .

U think?

Talk IT · Post by **Talk IT** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:19 pm

Guv007 wrote:Is Eguavoen distancing himself from CCC team selection?

It seems so.
I believe this interview was done before the game.
Eguaveon knew CC has no clue hence he was all to know its all CC's decision

oloye · Post by **oloye** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:24 pm

IAG
one of the things i try not to do these days is to delude myself, since 2002 i knew the direction the SE was going, those who started watching SE in the 90's will never know or understand this.
The climb down has begun, only those who suffer delusion will belive that we are what we think we are in African football. The year 2002 did a damage that will take years of careful planning and lots of good luck to fix.
The fate of SE, i dont want to be a prophet of doom, let me borrow a phrase i have seen somewhere on this forum "He who fails to prepare , prepares to fail".
The Era of fire brigade approach is gone, i am not enjoying the climb down, nor am i enjoying the ride no no no, but when you are in a turbulent flight and you cant jump out of the plane, the only option you have left is to force urself to enjoy the flight or should i say ride.

Obong · Post by **Obong** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:26 pm

Clearly Chukwu's top heavy selection has done him in.Starting Kanu and Okocha is a luxury we could ill afford.Aiyegbeni was out of sorts on the left wing,Utaka would have been better partnering Aghahowa,Ikedia should have come in at half time(the Moroccans could not handle him),and Garba Lawal should have started to help solidify the midfield.Poor Olofinjana.He had a heavy load to carry for a player with only a few caps and only one year in Europe.Babayaro and Abbey had to step in and help the midfield,exposing a rusty and uncharacteristically inept Okoronkwo and a sometime indecisive Yobo.Okocha was forced into extra defensive duties,limiting his creativity,while Agali looked clumsy and was not sharp.
Let's pray for a Benin/SA draw for our window to remain open.(I thought after the tactical blunder against Brazil,Chukwu had learnt his lesson.Haba!

marloski · Post by **marloski** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:52 pm

oloye wrote:IAG
one of the things i try not to do these days is to delude myself, since 2002 i knew the direction the SE was going, those who started watching SE in the 90's will never know or understand this.
The climb down has begun, only those who suffer delusion will belive that we are what we think we are in African football. The year 2002 did a damage that will take years of careful planning and lots of good luck to fix.
The fate of SE, i dont want to be a prophet of doom, let me borrow a phrase i have seen somewhere on this forum "He who fails to prepare , prepares to fail".
The Era of fire brigade approach is gone, i am not enjoying the climb down, nor am i enjoying the ride no no no, but when you are in a turbulent flight and you cant jump out of the plane, the only option you have left is to force urself to enjoy the flight or should i say ride.

Have to agree with you about the fire brigade approach.It is dead and buried and any team that still practices that will fail,even now it seems, in Africa.SO TELL THEM!!!!

Dodo · Post by **Dodo** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:55 pm

This all sucks, today sucks

WHAT A COME DOWN

oloye · Post by **oloye** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:57 pm

Marloski
I was watching the Rwandan v Tunisia match and i must say to see Tunisia struggle to beat Rwanda, did i say Rwanda scared the hell out of me, watched Egypt against Zimbabwe , my God what is football in africa turning to, Egypt scrambling in goals to beat Zimbabwe. And yet some of my fellow country men would have us belive all we need to win a match in the year 2004 is to spend millions of dollars overnight and simply turn up,the aches and groans has just began.

Kako · Post by **Kako** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 5:58 pm

Guv007 wrote:Is Eguavoen distancing himself from CCC team selection?

You can say that again

Chief Ogbunigwe · Post by **Chief Ogbunigwe** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 6:01 pm

well-said, oloye

sarkin doya · Post by **sarkin doya** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 6:37 pm

This interview was before the Morrocco game and I would
believe the statements attributed to Eguavoen.

Our coaches (and sometimes our lead players) need
to develop a bit more tact in their dealing with the press.

What is the purpose of Eguavoen stating he had a different
opinion than CCC on Oruma? As things go, we will always
have different opinions on issues and sometimes the
decisions taken will not be the ones we want (if we
believe Eguavoen that CCC made the call on Oruma).
However, when we work as part of a team or a family,
we should not be exposing these differences to the
outside world - it cannot be good for team spirit and
serves no purpose than feed the curiosity of the media
and public. I'm not talking about exposing corruption
etc.

Sometimes, our people in leadership positions want to
endear themselves to the people asking tough
questions.

Post by **juventuss** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 6:40 pm

marloski wrote:Hmnn,trust Niger man.He don dey comot himself from equation.BRILLIANT.

before nko ? trust am

iyerebee · Post by **iyerebee** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 6:59 pm

hmmmm, what is done is done, let's forget all those jokers in dat cesspool called the nfa and sports ministry with our equally lueless coach and move on, they will never learn dat u cannot achieve the sublime while glorifying mediocrity

omotori · Post by **omotori** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 7:06 pm

based on CCC's lineup/formation, I cannot blame Eguavoen for distancing himself.

some othet assistant-coach might have resigned. Its poor normally for team-spirit for an assistant coach to be so open publicly but guys this line-up/formation is absolutely ridicoulous.

this has nothing to do with the NFA or player discipline or preparation.

this was an awful line-up/formation. period.