'So suddenly you know Dessers?' - Eguavoen blasted for congratulating Chukwueze, Iheanacho, other Nigerians in European semifinals

Nigerians have reacted angrily to a congratulatory message from former Super Eagles manager Austin Eguavoen. 

The message, published on Thursday just minutes before midnight, was aimed at Super Eagles players who made the semifinals of UEFA's club competitions: the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Europa Conference League.

Eguavoen, was the Super Eagles manager when Nigeria lost out to Ghana in a crucial 2022 World Cup qualifying playoff, barely a month ago.

Reactions to the congratulatory tweet blasted the former manager for praising players he either refused to call up or left on the bench for the all-important playoff against the Black Stars.

In the Champions League, Samuel Chukwueze scored a sucker-punch for Villarreal against Bayern Munich to assist the Yellow Submarine, in reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2006.

Chukwueze's goal saw him become the first Nigerian since 1996 to score in the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League.

In the Europa League, Nigeria's trio of Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey, and Leon Balogun all played vital roles as Rangers defeated Braga 3-1 after extra time (3-2 on aggregate), to cruise into the semi-finals of Europe’s second-tier club competition.

It was a night to remember for Aribo as he assisted two of Rangers' goals.

In the Europa Conference League, Kelechi Iheanacho and Ademola Lookman both featured as Leicester City went away to PSV to grab a 2-1 win and cruise into their first-ever European semi-final. 

The game, however, was without Leicester City's injured midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi.

In another game, Cyril Dessers' brace helped Feyenoord do enough damage in a 3-1 victory (6-4 on aggregate) over Slavia Prague to hand the Dutch outfit their first semi-finals in European competitions in two decades.

Eguavoen, thrilled by these developments used his official Twitter handle to congratulate the players.

"Congratulations to Wilfred Ndidi, Leon Balogun, Cyriel Dessers, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze, Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Ademola Lookman as they’re all gonna be playing in European Semifinals this season. Well done to every one of them," he wrote in a simple tweet.