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Nigeria: Eguavoen explains his lineup choices against Guinea-Bissau

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The Super Eagles manager played the last game of the group stage with a much-changed lineup.

Nigeria defeated Guinea-Bissau 2-0 to end the Africa Cup of Nations group stage with a perfect record of three wins. The Super Eagles, who were qualified before the game, played with eight changes compared to their last match. 

From the players that featured against Egypt and Sudan, only William Troost-Ekong, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Wilfred Ndidi kept their places. Before the game, there were fears the changes might cost the Super Eagles the group’s top spot.

However, Nigeria managed to clinch an easy win ahead of the knock-out stage. Umar Sadiq scored the opener for Austin Eguavoen’s side just before the hour-mark, before Troost-Ekong doubled their lead later on.

In a post-match interview, Eguavoen spoke about his lineup decisions for the game.

 “We had to give some players some rest as it was necessary,” the Nigeria boss said (via Modo).

“And to now see the ones that haven’t played how they can fare when it comes to a competitive game and, of course, massive tournament like this.”

Nigeria will play their last-16 match on Sunday. The Super Eagles will face a third-placed team from Group B (Malawi), Group E (Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone or Algeria) or Group F (Gambia, Mali or Tunisia).

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