Austin Eguavoen, Super Eagles interim head coach, has been named as the best manager of the group stage at the ongoing Africa Cup of Natio…
Austin Eguavoen, Super Eagles interim head coach, has been named as the best manager of the group stage at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.
Eguavoen was announced as the winner of the prize in a tweet posted on the Twitter page of AFCON on Friday.
The 56-year-old has overseen the impressive resurgence of the Eagles since he replaced Gernot Rohr in December 2021.
Despite restrained preparation for AFCON due to the restriction imposed by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Eguavoen’s Eagles picked up all nine maximum points from the group stage of the competition.
He has been praised by many of the footballers in the squad for bestowing upon them newly-fangled freedom and credited for adding a breath of fresh air to the team.
Eguavoen had, however, noted that Rohr should also be credited for the team’s improved performance because the Franco-German assembled “98 percent” of the squad.
The Super Eagles are billed to face Tunisia in the Round of 16 on Sunday.
In other categories of awards, Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar was named the best player in the group stage for scoring five goals.
Egypt’s Mohamed El Shenawy was handed the gong for the safest pair of hands throughout the group stage for conceding just one goal in three games.
Guinea’s Ilaix Moriba was named the best young player of the group stage. The 19-year-old FC Barcelona youth product was instrumental for Guinea as they finished second in Group B.
