Penn Twp. resident Eguaoje helping coach Nigerian team
PENN TWP — Terry Eguoaje is the coach of coaches — and he’ll be imparting his knowledge of soccer on one of the sport’s brightest stages.
Eguaoje, a Penn Township resident and PA West Soccer’s Director of Coaching, will be on the sidelines for the Nigerian Women’s National Team at the upcoming Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.
Originally from Nigeria, he has developed a rapport with the country’s federation through work with the team as a consultant for coaching and development.
“One of the things they lack back home there is coaching education, which we are very, very good at here in the United States,” Eguaoje said. “So, I consult with them, go home once in a while to help train their local coaches.”
Aside from helping with in-game strategy, Eguaoje’s primary responsibility as an assistant with the Super Falcons will be laying out and coaching training sessions and breaking down performances.
“It’s very, very complex, in that my teaching will be opposition research and also analyzing our team,” Eguaoje said. “I use several softwares. We have Wyscout, we have Pro-Vision that I use. We watch to see what the opponents have done the last three-to-five games, and then try to come up with what we think they’re going to do at the World Cup.”
The product of that work is a game plan. Then, after their matches, Eguaoje will be tasked with scrutinizing the squad’s effort — which will help identify and patch areas of weakness.
He previously assisted with the Nigerian Men’s National Team during last year’s African Nations Cup (AFCON) and World Cup qualifiers.
“The first time I got to do it, I teared up,” Aguaoje said. “Representing your country in any capacity — as a player, coach, administrator — is a huge honor. I’m also an American. Maybe one day I will do the same thing for the United States. “It’s a huge honor for a coach, coming from Penn-Trafford here, to be able to go to the World Cup. Very few people can say that they’ve done that.”
His resume is an impressive one.
In 2003, Eguaoje helped Kennesaw State’s women’s soccer team to a Div. II national title as a student assistant coach. He was recently informed that he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame at that university.
He later fronted a youth club in Texas and was a state technical director in Mississippi.
“Being a technical director is basically (that) I am training coaches,” Eguaoje said. “The guy who trains the trainers, kind of deal.”
Eguaoje works as a U.S. Soccer Federation coach educator, too, traveling around the country to train coaches.
He arrived in Australia Tuesday, 16 days ahead of the Super Falcons’ Group B opener against 2021 Olympic champion Canada. Nigeria has crossed paths with Canada twice in the past year, losing once and earning a draw.
The Super Falcons will also play Australia — which is held in higher regard in the FIFA rankings — and the Republic of Ireland.
“We have a tough one ahead of us,” Eguaoje said. “I want to take it one game at a time. All my effort right now is breaking down the Canadians — as to what they play, how they play, who their players are — because I believe if we get a good result out of the first game … that could propel us into the second round.”
Eguaoje made sure to recognize the U.S. Soccer Federation for helping him grow in his profession.
“I want to thank U.S. Soccer, because I’m a trained U.S. Soccer coach,” Eguaoje said. “Everything I know about soccer in terms of coaching pedagogy and coaching on the pitch, it’s from U.S. Soccer. … I think U.S.Soccer deserves credit for giving me the training, all the way from grassroots to where I am now.”
