Eguavoen named interim Super Falcons coach ahead of Olympic qualifiers

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed former Super Eagles head coach Augustine Eguavoen as interim coach of the Super Falcons ahead of their 2028 Olympic Games qualifying fixtures against Comoros in October.

Eguavoen, popularly known as ‘Cerezo’, will take charge of the team on an interim basis as the search for a substantive head coach continues.

The former Nigeria international brings considerable coaching experience to the assignment, having worked at the highest level of international football. He led the Super Eagles to a bronze medal finish at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Eguavoen will be assisted by Christopher Danjuma, the current head coach of Nigeria Women’s Football League side Nasarawa Amazons. Danjuma has extensive experience with Nigeria’s women’s national teams, including leading the Falconets at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer Olatunji Baruwa will serve as goalkeeper trainer. Baruwa has worked with several of Nigeria’s national teams, including the Super Eagles, CHAN Eagles, Flying Eagles and Golden Eaglets.

Former Super Falcons defender and coach Ayisat Yusuf will also serve as one of the assistant coaches.

Yusuf earned 68 international caps for Nigeria and represented the country at four Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, three FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The 10-time African champions will begin their Olympic qualifying campaign in the second round against Comoros, with both legs scheduled for the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo on 9 and 13 October.

The Super Falcons received a bye into the second round as one of the three highest-ranked teams in the qualifying competition. Comoros advanced after defeating Sudan 30-0 on aggregate.

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Nigeria will have to navigate four rounds of two-legged knockout ties to secure one of Africa’s two available places at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

If they overcome Comoros, the Super Falcons will advance to the third round, scheduled for 23 February to 6 March, 2027, where they will face either the Democratic Republic of Congo or Morocco.

A place in the fourth round would see Nigeria face either Tunisia, Senegal, Benin Republic or Mali between 4 and 12 October, 2027.

The final round of the qualifying race is scheduled for 23 November to 4 December 2027. Nigeria could face one of Guinea, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Algeria or Burkina Faso at that stage.