Augustine Owen Eguavoen (born 19 August 1965) is a Nigerian football manager and former player who thrice served as manager of the Nigeria national team.

Playing career

Club

During his varied career Eguavoen began his career with ACB Lagos in his native

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, some impressive performances gained him a move to

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

in 1986. He went on to play for K.V. Kortrijk,

CD Ourense Club Deportivo Ourense, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1952 after the dissolution of old UD Orensana, it played in Segunda División B – Group 1, holding home games at ' ...

, Sacramento Scorpions,

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

and finished his career in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

with

Sliema Wanderers Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin" ( of the shilling), is a professional Maltese football club. It is the most successful team in Malta and hails from the seaside town of Sliema. It currently plays in the Maltese Premier Leag ...

International

Eguavoen was a member of the Nigeria national team squad that qualified for the country's first ever

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 1994, and won the

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

in the same year.

Coaching career

Sliema Wanderers

Eguavoen began his coaching career in

with

, he was given the job for the 2000–01 season, and guided the club to a second-place finish.

Nigeria

Eguavoen was appointed the caretaker coach of the Nigeria national team in June 2005 with his coaching staff including

Samson Siasia Samson Siasia (born 14 August 1967) is a Nigerian former professional football striker and the former head coach of the Nigeria national team from 2010 to October 2011. He was reappointed in 2016. On 16 August 2019, FIFA banned Siasia from all ...

Daniel Amokachi Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional footballer and a member of the dubious goals panel for the Premier League. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier L ...

and

Ike Shorunmu Ike Ibrahim Shorunmu (born 16 October 1967) is a former Nigerian football goalkeeper. Career Shorunmu was born in Lagos. After a few years in Nigeria he moved to play in Switzerland, and made his mark there. He was bought by Turkish club B ...

. He managed the Nigeria national team at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where the team won a bronze medal, beating Senegal in the third-place play-off. He was sacked in April 2006.

Black Leopards

Eguavoen then moved to South Africa, to take over

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

side Black Leopards in March 2008.

Enyimba International

In the 2008–09 season, Eguavoen was head coach at Enyimba International in Aba, however he left soon after, leading them to a 3rd-place finish in league and winning the Federation Cup.

Return to Nigeria

In June 2010, the Nigeria Football Federation asked Eguavoen to replace Swedish

Lars Lagerbäck Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck (; born 16 July 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player, who is the technical director of the Iceland national football team. Lagerbäck has managed a number of national teams prior to his current pos ...

until he decide his future plans. He was brought in as caretaker manager but said that he has no intention of submitting an application to take the role on a permanent basis. Eguavoen was also appointed as the head coach of the

Nigeria national under-23 football team Nigeria Olympic football team represents Nigeria in international football competitions in Olympic Games. The selection is limited to male players under the age of 23, except during the Olympic Games where the use of three overage players is allo ...

in August 2010. He expected his team would have a qualification for the 2012 London Olympic Games, but they were knocked out in the group stage. On 5 December 2011, he resigned from his job following the failure to secure the Olympics ticket. On 27 October 2012, he was named manager of Sharks F.C. to allow John Obuh to concentrate on the Nigeria Under-20 team. He resigned however after seven games when the team started at the bottom of the table. He signed in April 2013 to coach

Nigeria National League The Nigerian National League (formerly known as ''National Division 1'') is the second tier of club football in Nigeria. History From 1997-2011, the league has been split into 1A for Northern teams and 1B for southern teams. The top two f ...

side COD United. In November 2013, he was hired by the Edo State government to coach Bendel Insurance with the intent of getting them back to the Premier League. He resigned in July 2014 to take over Gombe United F.C. In April 2017, he joined Sunshine Stars. but was let go in June after a home loss to league leaders Plateau United. In October 2020, the Nigerian Football Federation, appointed Eguavoen as the Technical Director of the Federation. On 12 December 2021, Eguavoen was appointed manager of Nigeria on an interim basis for the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

, following the departure of

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Nigerian national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, whe ...

. After Nigeria exited from the round of sixteen with an agonising defeat to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, he returned to his position as the Technical Director of the side.

Honours

As a Player

Nigeria * Africa Cup of Nations:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

(Winner)

As a Coach

Nigeria * Africa Cup of Nations: 2006 (Bronze) Enyimba International * Federation Cup 2008/09 Season (Winner)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eguavoen, Augustine 1965 births Living people Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Nigerian footballers Association football defenders Nigeria international footballers Olympic footballers of Nigeria Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1988 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players Belgian First Division A players Belgian First Division B players Liga Portugal 2 players USISL players Russian Premier League players ACB Lagos F.C. players K.A.A. Gent players K.V. Kortrijk players CD Ourense footballers Sacramento Scorpions players FC Torpedo Moscow players FC Torpedo-2 players Sliema Wanderers F.C. players Nigerian football managers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations managers Bendel Insurance F.C. managers Nigeria national football team managers Black Leopards F.C. managers Enyimba F.C. managers Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Russia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Malta Expatriate footballers in Malta Sportspeople from Delta State