2021 AFCON: How Eguavoen could manage Imminent Withdrawal of Foreign Players - Super Eagles

By Emmanuel Oladele - Ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon, It's no longer news that some Super Eagles' foreign professionals have pulled out of the tournament due to injuries, health concerns and club's permission.

It seems not over yet, a new report has it that Saudi club Al Shabab is also attempting to hold back Super Eagles' Forward Odion Jude Ighalo from participating in the African most prestigious football tournament. With this latest update, other matters may also arise and prevent more players from attending the competition.

What Coach Eguavoen can do to manage Imminent withdrawal of Foreign professionals....

With Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) currently in season, Coach Eguavoen should sought for good players who have proved their qualities in the last four games and put them on stand-by to manage the case of Imminent withdrawal of foreign players.

Some players that also gave good account of themselves in 2020/21 NPFL season can also help in times like this. 27 foreign players were invited in the new 28-man list, but only 12 have arrived the Super Eagles Camp in Abuja as at Sunday's night. It's not certain that all the 27 invited foreign professionals will be available, coach Augustine Eguavoen should place the home based players on stand-by. This will go a long way to give exposure to the home-based lads, which will also be an advantage to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), rather than going with 25 players.

With just five days to the kickoff of the tournament, the team need to settle, intensify training and not being distracted about availability of foreign players.

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, holds between January 9 to February 6, 2022 in Cameroon and Nigeria are in Group D alongside; Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Sudan. The Super Eagles first game will be against Egypt on Tuesday 11th January, 2022, 17:00 Nigeria Time (+1 GMT).