Coach Austin Eguavoen has explained why Cyriel Dessers was left out of the Super Eagles squad for Afcon, despite his impressive form.
Dessers is one of Nigeria’s most prolific forward in Europe this season, thanks to his incredible form for Dutch Eredivisie side Feyenoord.
The 26-year-old scored 11 goals and 3 assists in 20 appearances for the Club, but it wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in Eguaveon’s final 28-man squad to the tournament in Cameroon, while the the likes of Peter Olayinka and Henry Onyekuru with less goal contributions made the cut.
“On Dessers, I spoke to the [NFF] President about it. I have watched Olayinka in Champions League game against Inter, I haven’t watched Dessers closely so because of the time factor that’s why I decided to stick to people that I know.
“Onyekuru, he came in because Dennis is out and Onyekuru has always been around with the team, Dessers has not always been around the team. Olayinka was named in the 40-man list and I didn’t want to go outside the 40-man list”. Eguaveon said, before the team departed for Cameroon.
Dessers has been frozen out of Super Eagles since making his debut against Tunisia in a friendly on October 13, 2020.
However, unconfirmed reports suggests he could join the team in Cameroon, should Odion Ighalo fail to report.
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