‘I think he did very well’-Eguavoen praises Super Eagles star for his display against Guinea-Bissau

The interim boss made eight changes against the Wild Dogs, and he was impressed with the performance of one of the players 

Super Eagles coach Austin Eguavoen has praised the performance of Umar Sadiq against Guinea-Bissau.

However, he admitted the Almeria striker is still trying to find his feet at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Umar was called up to Nigeria’s squad for the competition after both Victor Osimhen and Emmanuel Dennis pulled out of the team.

The Almeria striker came on as a substitute in the first two games but failed to impress. Still, he was handed a start in the final group game against Guinea-Bissau.

Umar had a mixed performance against the Wild Dogs. The 24-year old scored the opening goal in the second half but was heavily criticised by fans for his all-round effort.

However, Eguavoen insists he was satisfied with the striker’s performance, saying it is only his first major competition with Nigeria.

“I kept talking to him (Umar) because he’s a player who has played for Roma, he’s in Spain, he’s scoring goals,” Eguavoen said after the game against Guinea-Bissau as per Modo. 

“And first two games, he came in, didn’t really find his feet for whatever reason because I think he’s just coming to a big tournament.”

“However, I think he’s performed well, and we just wanted to start him today to see how he reacts to not coming in, and I think he did very well,” Eguavoen added.

Umar will hope he gets another chance when the Super Eagles start their knockout round campaign with a clash against Tunisia on Sunday.