NIGERIA coach Justin Madugu has explained his squad rotation policy at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, insisting that carefully managing his players and keeping fringe members of the squad ready to step in will be crucial to sustaining the Super Falcons’ title defence through a potential six-match campaign.
News Point Nigeria Sport reports that Madugu pointed to Gift Monday’s patience as an example of what his coaching staff had been trying to instil in players who had seen limited action during the early stages of the tournament.
“It’s a long tournament,” Madugu told reporters.
“We are expecting to play six games and given the timing of matches in this competition, you really must know how to manage your players very well. We have the intention of making sure that we manage our players very well, so that we can sustain the performance of the team and not allow the selection of players to drop the standards.”
The coach said his technical staff had deliberately maintained communication with players yet to feature, ensuring they remained prepared to take advantage of any opportunity that came their way.
“We keep speaking with the ones that are not playing, just to get them ready, because anything can happen at any time,” he said.
“You must be in touch with everybody in the team, to make sure that at any stage in the course of the competition that they have to come in, they are ready, not just physically, but mentally and psychologically, so that you can get the best out of them.
“That we have been doing, and we know in the course of this competition, they will all have the opportunity to also showcase what they can also do for the team.”
Monday’s impressive display against Egypt has now given Madugu another attacking option ahead of Sunday’s quarter-final against Cameroon.
The forward’s emergence further intensifies the competition for places, with Asisat Oshoala, Uchenna Kanu, Joy Omewa, Esther Okoronkwo, Chinwendu Ihezuo and Folashade Ijamilusi also competing for spots in the attacking line.
Madugu admitted that the depth of quality within the squad had made team selection increasingly difficult, describing the situation as a positive challenge for his coaching staff.
“Having good players in the team is a good headache,” he said.
“But it’s not easy for us as coaches when you have a lot of players that are good. When you come to team selection, you have to go into a lot of details in trying to determine who does what.
“With the current crop of players that we have, we have to battle sometimes, argue, discuss, look at a lot of things before we finally decide on who comes in to play.”
The coach’s comments underline the importance of squad depth as the Super Falcons enter the knockout stage, with the technical crew expected to balance player workload while maintaining the team’s competitive edge in their bid to retain the continental title.