'He gave me my first call-up' - Lookman enjoying playing under Super Eagles interim coach Eguavoen

Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman has shared that playing under interim Super Eagles coach Augustine Eguavoen has been a fantastic experience.

Eguavoen returned for a fourth spell in charge of the Super Eagles, albeit on a caretaker basis, having previously led the team in 2005-2007, 2010 and 2022.

Results have improved since the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner took over the managerial reigns, after Bruno Labbadia pulled out of contract talks with the Nigeria Football Federation.

Including the recent Confederation of African Football ruling that awarded Nigeria three points after a botched Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Libya, the Super Eagles have recorded three victories and one draw with Eguavoen in the Super Eagles dugout. 

A Fifa U20 World Cup winner with England in 2017, Lookman decided to switch his international allegiance to Nigeria in 2021 and was included in the provisional squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. 

Eguavoen opted to hand Lookman his first Nigeria call-up for a pair of 2022 World Cup qualifying matches with Ghana, after scouting him in a Europa Conference League fixture between Leicester City and Randers. 

In an interview uploaded to YouTube on Friday morning, Lookman was asked about his experience playing under Nigeria's interim coach Eguavoen and his thoughts on Nigeria's chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

He told 54footballx: "It has been great. I have known him obviously the coach before because he gave me my first call-up to play for Nigeria, so I know him very well.

"We've shown good performances as a team in these Afcon qualifiers and now we need to do better on a consistent basis.

"We've won two games and drawn one game, so we will continue in this manner, and try to win our games. 

“Obviously the goal is to qualify for the Afcon and World Cup, so we are looking to do those things.”

Barring injury, Lookman will earn his twenty-eighth senior cap on November 14 when the Super Eagles battle Gernot Rohr's Republic of Benin in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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