AFCON 2021: “I’m not looking at personal glory”- Eguavoen reacts to possibility of matching Keshi’s record

The 56-year-old tactician could become just the third person to win the biggest prize in African football as a player and a coach

Super Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguavoen has expressed his indifference to the possibility of him breaking late Stephen Keshi’s record to become the only person alive to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and a coach.

The late Keshi was part of the Super Eagles team that beat Zambia to win the Nations Cup in 1994. He then rewrote history by leading the Super Eagles to AFCON glory in 2013 as a coach.

This ensured that the former Super Eagles captain became the second man to win the AFCON as a player and a coach after former Egyptian coach Mahmoud El-Gohary.

However, Keshi and El-Gohary are both dead, meaning Eguavoen, who won the AFCON in 1994 as a player, could become the only man alive to win it as a player and a coach if he succeeds in Cameroon.

Nevertheless, Eguavoen is not disturbed by that prospect, stating that he is not concerned with personal glory.

“It’s not about the individual, it’s about the team, it’s about the country,” Eguavoen said in the Super Eagles pre-match conference.

“I’m not looking at personal glory to say hey, listen, I wanna be the coach alive to have won the Nations Cup as a player and as a coach, No.”

“I’m looking at what I can do for my country and leave a legacy. It’s not about the individual. It’s a collective thing.”

Eguavoen’s men begin their quest for a fourth AFCON title with a clash against seven-time champions Egypt.