AFCONQ 2025: He Was Tormenting Them – Eguavoen On Substituting Chukwueze Against Rwanda

Augustine Eguavoen, the interim Super Eagles coach, has opened up on why he substituted Samuel Chukwueze during the second half of Nigeria’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifying match against Rwanda on Tuesday.

Chukwueze was brought off at halftime, with Moses Simon taking his place.

Speaking at his post-match interview, Eguavoen said the AC Milan winger had to be replaced because he had a yellow card and was tormenting the hosts.

“He [Chukwueze] is very good, he’s one of our good players. Today, we came up with a strategy, he got a yellow card and he was tormenting you [Rwanda] guys,” Eguavoen told reporters.

“We had three players on yellow cards so it’s kind of a risk also. We have to make some substitutions and we have players who can go forward also.

“We thought Chukwueze should rest not because he’s not playing well but because of the risk of getting a second yellow card.”