Nigeria coach Augustine Eguavoen said on Thursday that he was not happy with the "brutality" his players have to endure in their African Cup of Nations matches. Eguavoen blamed referees for failing to protect his players and urged CAF to take stronger measures. “You have to protect the players, especially if you care about improving the standard of play,” said Eguavoen. “I'm not saying referees are biased against us, all I'm saying is that my players need more protection,” he added. A host of Nigerian players like Wilson Oruma, Obafemi Martins and Cristian Obodo voiced their displeasure with picking up unnecessary injuries during the tournament that runs in Egypt until February 10th. Nigerian officials are also concerned they will leave Egypt with numerous injuries in their squad.
Okocha “We preferred to rest Augustine Okocha, who could have actually started the Senegal game, to avoid getting his injury compounded,” said Eguavoen. “I felt bad for Martins against Zimbabwe, not because he didn't score, but because of the aggressiveness he was treated with from the defenders,” he added. Eguavoen said that he refuses to adopt the same strategy that other teams use against his teams, noting that it wouldn't be in the spirit of positive football that FIFA adopts. “If my team has to faces the likes of Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba I could never ask my defenders to harm them. “I just urge referees to be sterner with players who break the rules,” he said.
