What Coach Austin Eguavoen Must Do to Secure His Job - Babatunde Oluwadare Oyeniyi

If Super Eagles gaffer, Austin Eguavoen, wants to keep his job, then he should start searching for a creative midfielder.

I don't care where he's going to search—maybe from the NPFL. We've had Sunday Mbah from Enugu Rangers, who helped us win AFCON 2013 under the tutelage of the late Stephen Keshi.

I'm sorry to say this, but relying on a combination of Iwobi in our midfield, or heavily depending on Iwobi and co. to provide passes to our strikers, won't lead the Eagles anywhere.

This was proven again against the minnows, the Squirrels of Benin Republic. Our midfield looked disjointed and very boring; they couldn't get the ball to our waiting strikers in the box.

African football is different from what they play in Europe—no space or respect for big players. They will mark you like a thief.

Nigeria would have lost the game if not for Osimhen’s quality, which made the difference.

The search for a quality creative midfielder should start now. We're in a very difficult position in the World Cup qualifiers, a situation where we must win all our away matches. Without quality midfielders who understand African football, I'm afraid we may not qualify for the biggest football mundial. That's the truth, because I don’t see any miracles happening with these players currently parading as midfielders.

I understand that African football is tough, but struggling against Benin Republic, a team that plays its home matches on neutral ground with almost 100% home-based players, is no excuse.

Our star players need to step up their game. African football is not like eating bread and beans.

Thank you, Osimhen, for rescuing 220 million people from shame in Abidjan.

God bless the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Babatunde Oluwadare Oyeniyi,

Football Analyst