Super Eagles player considered as Man of the Match in the team’s opening game against Egypt, Moses Simon, has compared the styles of acting coach Austen Eguavoen with that of former coach, Gernot Rohr.
Simon showed class in the game that Nigeria won 1-0.
Speaking on Friday on what brought renewal to the team, he said Rohr was conservative with his instructions while Eguavoen was liberal.
According to him, Eguavoen allows players to be creative and freely express their talents.
He said, “Of course, It was my best performance in the last two years. You know we changed the coach and, of course, the tactics. So every coach has his own mentality and how he impacts players.
“With the previous coach, I played on his instructions, but the current coach gives the freedom and allows us to bring our style of play at our clubs.”
Simon received his first call-up to the Nigeria national team by coach Daniel Amokachi in March 2015 and made his debut appearance on the 25th of the same month in an international friendly against Uganda, when he replaced Anthony Ujah after 59 minutes in the game.
He scored his first goal for Nigeria in an international friendly against Niger on 8 September 2015, the second in a 2–0 win.
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In May 2018, he was named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, he did not make the final 23 due to injury.
He was included in the country’s 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Born in Jos, Simon is a product of the famed GBS Academy, the same football academy in Nigeria that produced the likes of Ahmed Musa.
He was linked with Nigerian Premier League club Kaduna United, as many professional clubs around the world were also eager to sign him.
On 10 May 2013, it was announced that Simon had signed a pre-contractual agreement with Dutch club AFC Ajax to join them in pre-season training, having previously been linked with Liverpool F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur.
He made his first appearance for Ajax on 13 July 2013 in pre-season friendly match against De Graafschap, coming on as a substitute player and scoring the third and final goal in the 64th minute of the match, in a 3–0 away win.
He made a further appearance on 17 July, playing for the reserves team Jong Ajax in a pre-season friendly match against Voorschoten ’97, scoring the second goal in the 5–0 home win. On 25 July 2013, it was announced that Ajax would not sign the young Nigerian, ultimately waiving him from the pre-season roster.
After the announcement discussions commenced with AS Trenčín; Ajax partner club in Slovakia, which is owned by former Ajax player
