Peseiro defends decision to play Onuachu despite arriving Super Eagles team hotel 8 hours before kickoff 

Speaking to reporters at the post-match press conference after his side were forced to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea in their Africa Cup of Nations opener on Sunday, Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro explained his decision to field Southampton loanee Paul Onuachu. 

It has come to light that the Trabzonspor center forward finally reported for international duty on Sunday morning at 0600 hours, eight hours before kickoff at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, contrary to earlier reports that he linked up with the squad in Abidjan on the eve of the meeting with Equatorial Guinea. 

Lanky with exceptional aerial ability, Onuachu was a like-for-like replacement for Real Sociedad striker Umar Sadiq who was forced to pull out of the squad after the team's arrival in Ivory due to a knee injury he sustained in Nigeria's last pre-AFCON friendly against Guinea. 

Onuachu and another latecomer Kelechi Iheanacho had been rated as doubtful to face the Nzalang Nacional as they did not participate in the Super Eagles final training session on Saturday. 

However, the duo cracked the matchday squad, with the former Racing Genk goal poacher entering the fray to replace Alex Iwobi in the fourth minute of stoppage time as the Super Eagles searched for an unlikely winner. 

"The other time the question was why Onuachu played, now is why I didn't bring him on earlier. Onuachu arrived today 430 am in the morning, he didn't do any training with us," Peseiro explained. 

"We didn't assess him well before the match. I brought on Onuachu because there was no organization, he's a guy strong in the air. It's not easy putting a player that arrived 430 am in the morning, 600 am in the hotel."

The Super Eagles will train at the Ecole Nationale de la Police on Monday afternoon as part of their preparations for Thursday's blockbuster clash against Ivory Coast.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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