Eguavoen apologises for failing to lead Nigeria to Qatar

A former coach of Nigeria’s Football National team, Austin Eguavoen, has apologised to Nigerians for his failure to qualify the country for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Super Eagles were not able to make it to the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with the black stars of Ghana at a match played in Abuja.

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Speaking at a ceremony for the handover of Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) to the team that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations Cup (AFCON) on Friday, Eguavoen stated that the lost the ticket but not the match

“We all know that I was saddled with the responsibility of qualifying Nigeria for the world cup tournament coming up in Qatar but it was not to be. I want to use this opportunity to apologize to the entire Nigerians. We didn’t lose the game but we lost the ticket. Still at that the federal government went ahead to fulfill their promise.”

Speaking on behalf of his team mates, he thanked the federal government for fulfilling the promise to gift each member of the squad a home after previous administrations had failed.

“I am so delighted that this finally happened after 28 years. Many administrations have come but have not succeeded in fulfilling the promise. This administration has done extremely well to actualise this promise.”

“On behalf of my colleagues, we are very grateful from the bottom of our hearts because it brings to fore the stanza of our national anthem that says the labour of our heroes shall past never be in vain.”

He urged the current crop of super Eagles to play ith passion and patriotism so that they can also be recognised in the country.

Earlier, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the federal government got to know the promises made since 1994 was not fulfilled after it was reviewed by the minister of Sports, Sunday Dare.

He requested the president to consider and approve the allocation made to redeem those promises inside the ongoing National Housing Programme that is being undertaken in 34 states.

He added that members of the team were asked to select the state they wanted their houses to be as it was not possible to give them in Abuja.

Members of the team that were at the ceremony include, Peter Rufai, Victor Ikpeba, Steve Edenma, Isaac Semitoje, Uche Okafor, who was represented by his daughter and Sunday Oliseh, who was also represented.