The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed former Super Eagles head coach Augustine Eguavoen as interim coach of the Super Falcons ahead of their 2028 Olympic Games qualifying fixtures against Comoros.
The NFF announced the appointment on Tuesday, saying Eguavoen will lead the senior women’s national team while the search for a substantive head coach continues.
Eguavoen, popularly known as “Cerezo”, will be assisted by Nasarawa Amazons head coach Christopher Danjuma.
Former Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer Olatunji Baruwa has been appointed goalkeeper trainer, while former Super Falcons defender Ayisat Yusuf will serve as one of the assistant coaches.
Yusuf earned 68 international caps for Nigeria and represented the country at four Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, three FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Eguavoen brings considerable international experience to the assignment, having managed the Super Eagles and guided Nigeria to a bronze medal at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Danjuma also has experience with Nigeria’s women’s national teams and led the Falconets at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
The appointment comes after a disappointing 2026 campaign for the Super Falcons.
Nigeria’s defence of its Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title ended with a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Cameroon.
The NFF subsequently began a fact-finding process into the team’s failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and other recent national-team setbacks.
With the Olympic qualifying campaign now approaching, the federation has turned to Eguavoen on an interim basis.
The Super Falcons will face Comoros in the second round of the African qualifiers, with both legs scheduled for the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo on October 9 and 13.
Nigeria received a bye into the second round as one of the three highest-ranked teams in the competition.
Comoros reached the stage after defeating Sudan 30-0 on aggregate, winning the first leg 17-0 before completing the tie with a 13-0 victory.
The emphatic result has given Comoros considerable momentum ahead of its much tougher encounter with Nigeria.
The African Olympic qualifying competition consists of five rounds of two-legged knockout ties. Nigeria’s entry at the second round means the Falcons must overcome four rounds to secure one of Africa’s two available places at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Should Nigeria defeat Comoros, the Falcons will face either the Democratic Republic of Congo or Morocco in the third round from February 23 to March 6, 2027.
The fourth round is scheduled for October 4–12, 2027, while the final round will be played from November 23 to December 4, 2027.
Eguavoen’s immediate objective will be to secure Nigeria’s progression against Comoros while providing stability to a team coming off a difficult international campaign.
For the NFF, the appointment also buys time to identify a permanent coach capable of guiding the Falcons through the remainder of the Olympic qualification race.
