Penn Township's Terry Eguaoje excited for opportunity to coach at FIFA World Cup

While many people head to the beach for a summer vacation, Terry Eguaoje is spending his time as an assistant coach for the Nigerian women’s soccer team.

The Penn Township resident and PA West Soccer’s director of coaching is on the staff of Pitt’s women’s head coach Randy Waldrum, who was appointed as the Nigerian team head coach in 2020.

Eguaoje is spending his vacation doing something he loves, coaching soccer.

The Nigerian team is competing in the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand this month.

The Nigeria native is part of Waldrum’s staff as an assistant responsible for match analysis. His duty is in creating and coaching training sessions after analyzing the team performances of both the Nigerian team and their opponents. He will also assist with in-game coaching.

“This is certainly a great opportunity for a soccer junkie like me,“ Eguaoje said. “It’s an opportunity for me to utilize, at the global stage, what we teach here in PA West Soccer in U.S. Soccer Federation courses. I am excited and looking forward to the experience.

“Not many coaches can say that they have coached at the FIFA World Cup. It is certainly an honor to be representing my motherland.”

The Super Falcons are in Group B with host Australia, Canada and the Republic of Ireland. They open July 21 against Canada. They then face Australia on July 27 and play against Republic of Ireland on July 31.

This year’s Women’s World Cup expands to 32 teams equaling the size of the field in the 2022 Men’s World Cup.

Eguaoje previously assisted with the Nigerian men’s national team during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Ghana (home and away) and the 2022 African Nations Cup (AFCON).

The Nigeria side was undefeated in AFCON group play before Tunisia slipped past them 1-0 in the opening round of elimination play.

Eguaoje said this will be a learning experience for him.

“About two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend match analysis workshop in Casablanca, Morocco, and this week I am in Sydney, Australia for another event. I am just soaking it all in at the moment, so much to learn about elite players and the game at the highest level.”

He also said this will help him as he coaches on the youth levels in western Pennsylvania.

PA West Soccer is the state association of U.S. Soccer serving the youth and adult amateur game in western Pennsylvania.

“This is a great opportunity for Terry,” PA West Soccer executive director Tim McCoy said. “He will able to share his experiences in his teaching of youth coaches and volunteers.”

With a membership of more than 42,000 youth players and 2,000 adult amateur players, the association also has more than 7,000 active coaches and 1,400 U.S. Soccer-certified referees involved with more than 130 youth clubs and eight adult leagues.

The organization also offers player development programs, coaching education and development, and referee certification and development.

“There is no doubt that these experiences would help me in my current role here in Western Pa.,” Eguaoje said. “At the very least, I would be able to share my experiences with grassroots coaches on what it looks like coaching elite players, using the tools that we teach, at the highest levels of the game.”