Nigerias caretaker coach, Augustine Eguavoen has explained his reason for delaying the substitution of midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi during the second half of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifier against the Republic of Benin on Saturday.
Ndidi paired fellow Premier League player, Alex Iwobi in the midfield against Benin.
The Leicester City star put up his best performance in a while for Nigeria but it came at a cost as he became fatigued.
In the second half, Ndidi was caught on camera signaling to the bench to be substituted, but Eguavoen opted to leave him on the pitch until the 80th minute when he was replaced by Raphael Onyedika.
Explaining why Ndidis substitution was delayed, Eguavoen said at his post-match press conference that he wanted to allow his replacement enough time to get fully warmed up before stepping onto the pitch.
