Cheetahs of Benin coach,Gernot Rohr,has admitted that Super Eagles under interimcoach, Austin Eguavoen can be a difficult team to beatthan with a new coach after all.

Eguavoen at the weekend was yet again handed the reins of the Super Eaglesafter German coach Bruno Labbadia controversially opted out of the contract talk that would have made him the 37thman to lead the three-time African champions.

As a result, Eguavoen who is the technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation was asked to take charge of the Super Eagles for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republicin Uyo this Saturday andnext Tuesday against Rwandain Kigali.

It will be Eguavoens fourth stint in charge of the Super Eaglesafter earlier experiences in 2005-2007, 2010 and 2022.

Incidentally, Eguavoens last romance with the Super Eagles, between December 2021and February 2022, ended in tears as he failed to qualify Nigeria for theQatar 2022 World Cup, after losing on the away-goal rule to the Black Stars ofGhana in the Africa Final playoff, as well as at the delayed 2021 AFCON in Cameroun, where the Super Eagles flatteredto deceiveas they lost to Tunisia in the Second Round despite being the only team thatwon itsopeningthreepreliminarygroup matches.

Speakingahead ofthe Nigeriaversus Beningame in Uyo on Saturday, Rohr said he was not obliviousof the circumstances behind the handing of the Super Eagles over to Eguavoen , adding that the formernationalteamcaptaincan rev uphis wardsin order to grind results against Benin and Rwanda.

I think Eguavoen knows them (the Super Eagles) better than a new coach, Rohr, who has managed other Africas national teams including Niger, Burkina Faso and Gabon, said.

He added that Eguavoens past failings with the Super Eagles would have little or no bearing on thisweekendencounter against thevisiting Beninese side.

He surely must have learnedfrom the two eliminations (for Qatar 2022 and AFCON 2021) and, perhaps, his team could be more dangerous to deal with, the 71-year-old former Bordeaux trainer, wholed The Cheetahsto their historicfirstofficialvictory over Nigerialast June in Abidjan, noted. (The Nation)