'I told six players to warm up' - Eguaoven provides an explanation for delaying substitution of Ndidi

Speaking at the post-match press conference after his side's 3-0 rout of Republic of Benin on Saturday evening, Nigeria's caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen provided an explanation for delaying the substitution of Wilfred Ndidi during the second half of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

In the buildup to the clash, Eguavoen in his fourth stint as Super Eagles manager, held a meeting with the players, and decided to set up his team in a 3-4-3 formation, with Ndidi joined in the engine room by fellow Premier League player Alex Iwobi.

The Leicester City midfielder put up his best performance in a while for the Super Eagles but it came at a cost as he became fatigued.

Around the midway point of the second half, the Super Eagles number 4 was caught on camera signaling to the bench to be substituted, but Eguavoen chose to leave him on the pitch until the 80th minute when he was replaced by Raphael Onyedika.

The Super Eagles boss explained that the substitution of Ndidi was delayed to allow his replacement enough time to get fully warmed up before stepping onto the pitch.

On the delayed substitution of Ndidi, Eguavoen said to reporters: "From the beginning of the second half, I told six players to warm-up, Onyedika was among them.

"But we have to buy time, you don't have to rush into changes because Republic of Benin today surprised me, a very good team.

"I watched them against us in Abidjan, they were not as good as this, so they came with a good game plan, today's performance for  them was very okay.

"I knew at some point we are going to sub Ndidi but somebody who's coming in has to be properly warmed and prepared."

Eguavoen's tactical decision to leave Nddi on the pitch paid off as the midfielder played a key role in the Super Eagles' second goal scored by Victor Osimhen.

The Napoli loanee struck with clinical precision on the half volley after a deflected pass from Ndidi, two minutes before the Leicester City  man was replaced.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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