Super Eagles’ Interim Technical Adviser, Augustine Eguavoen, has described his former teammate Emmanuel Amuneke as his younger brother.
He said this in reaction to Amuneke’s new role to to assist him at the senior national team, saying it was “a very good development”.
Eguavoen said in Ilorin on Wednesday that the coming of Amuneke would be a great addition to the quality of the team’s coaching.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had on Monday announced slight changes to the composition of the Eagles’ technical crew.
While Eguavoen is to continue on as head of the crew, Amuneke was added to the team, just as former national under-20 team coach Paul Aigbogun was dropped.
Amuneke is to work as the Chief Coach and Eguavoen’s First Assistant, with Salisu Yusuf as Second Assistant/Chief Coach of the CHAN Super Eagles.
The News Agency of Nigeria also reports that Joseph Yobo is the Third Assistant, while Aloysius Agu is the Goalkeepers’ Trainer.
“He (Amuneke) is my younger brother and we have worked together for so long. I think his coming into the team will add a lot of value also,” Eguavoen, who led the Super Eagles to a round of 16 finish at the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon said.
The coach also said any Nigerian playing in any of the national league competitions in the country can get a chance to play for the national team.
“Once we get information on a player, I will go round to watch him. And not just me, a couple of my colleagues are also watching.
“That gives the home-based players a lot of hope and thinking that they will get a chance one day to play in the Super Eagles,” he said.
Already, Eguavoen who is also the NFF Technical Director has been going round to ensure this happens.
He was in Ilorin on Sunday to watch Kwara United against Lobi Stars in a Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match day 11 encounter.
The former Super Eagles right full-back added however that he was not the only national coach or NFF official monitoring the league.
“There are other colleagues who are also doing same across the country,” he said.
The coach also rated the NPFL very high, adding that the officiating in the 2021/2022 competition has also been good so far.
“I have seen about two or three games, and the standard is high and officiating is good.