Super Falcons interim head coach Austin Eguavoen has called for patience as Nigeria prepares to introduce more players into the national team ahead of their crucial 2028 Olympic qualifying showdown against Morocco.
The former Super Eagles coach insists that expanding the squad remains a priority but warns that wholesale changes could undermine the team’s progress as the competition becomes tougher.
Nigeria advanced to the third round after defeating Comoros 5-0 in Ikenne on October 13, completing a commanding 7-0 aggregate victory.
The result sets up a two-legged encounter with Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses, scheduled for February 23 to March 6, 2027, with a place in the next qualifying round at stake.
Eguavoen believes the Falcons possess the quality to compete with Africa’s best but wants a stronger pool of players to provide more options for selection.
“Going forward, we expect to meet tougher opposition, no doubt about that,” he said.
“We have the quality, we have the personnel, we have the support.”
The interim coach explained that future international windows would provide opportunities to assess players who missed the recent qualifiers, while stressing the importance of maintaining stability.
“We’ll try to see how we can utilise that window and make sure we bring players that didn’t have a chance of playing in these two games, but then, we have to be mindful.”
He acknowledged that experimenting with too many new players could attract criticism if results fail to meet expectations.
“We have to be a little bit; it has to be a mixture, because you lose one game, people start saying all sorts of things.”
Eguavoen maintained that the objective is to build sufficient depth without sacrificing the team’s competitiveness.
“We’ll make sure we have a solid team and see how we can give everyone an opportunity, so we have a pool of players to pick from.”
Nigeria are seeking one of Africa’s two qualification tickets to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, having returned to the women’s football tournament at Paris 2024.
