Augustine Owen Eguavoen (born 19 August 1965) is a Nigerian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who served as manager of the Nigeria national team three times.

Playing career

Club

During his varied career Eguavoen began his career as a defender with ACB Lagos in his native

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, 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: 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 Ghent ** .gent, ...

in 1986. He went on to play for

K.V. Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 20 ...

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 a ...

, Sacramento Scorpions,

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their c ...

and finished his career in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

with Sliema Wanderers.

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 name is ...

in 1994, and won the

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

in the same year.

Coaching career

Sliema Wanderers

Eguavoen began his coaching career in

with Sliema Wanderers, he was given the job as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the 1999–2000 season, but lasted in that role for only few months. He kept playing for Sliema in the 2000–01 season.

Nigeria

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

Daniel Amokachi Daniel Owefin Amokachi (; born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional player. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Everton and was part of their 1995 FA Cup winning team, ...

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 Be� ...

. He managed the Nigeria national team at the

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split int ...

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 The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

side

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African professional association football, football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe, Vhembe Region, Limpopo, that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in ...

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 currently serves as an advisor for the Iceland national football team. Lagerbäck has managed a number of national teams prior to his curren ...

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 national under-23 football team represents Nigeria in international association football, 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 ...

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. Sharks Football Club was a Nigerian football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They played in the top division in Nigerian football, the Nigerian Premier League. Their home stadium was Sharks Stadium although they played some of their ...

to allow

John Obuh John Sam Obuh is a Nigerian football coach. He was most recently the coach of Akwa United F.C. He was in charge of Nigeria's under-17 national team during the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup after leaving Kwara United due to a contract dispute. On 2 ...

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 Nigeria National League (NNL) (formerly the National Division 1) is the second-highest overall in the Nigerian football league system after the Nigeria Premier Football League, and is currently contested by 46 clubs. Each season, four ...

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 ass ...

, following the departure of

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Benin national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, where they l ...

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

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

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

Honours

As a Player

Nigeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

As a Coach

Nigeria *

third place:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

(Bronze) Enyimba International * Nigeria Federation Cup: 2008–09 Season

References

External links