Former Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) winner Augustine Eguavoen has slammed Jamie Carragher for his insulting comments about the premier football tournament on the African continent.
On Sunday, The 47-year-old Sky Sports pundit Carragher was talking about current Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah, and why he felt he wouldn’t win a Ballon d’Or award.
Carragher went on to say that Afcon is not one of the major tournaments, which has seen the former Liverpool player come under fire for his comments.
The 59-year-old Eguavoen who was part of the Nigerian team which won Afcon in 1994, said he expected an apology from Carragher soon.
'Unfair and disrespectful'
"The Africa Cup of Nations is one of the best football tournaments in the world,” Eguavoen told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.
“And if anyone feels otherwise, well he's entitled to his opinion but rather unfair and disrespectful. Jamie Carragher spoke out of emotion and clearly doesn’t understand what this tournament means to us in Africa. That’s unfortunate."
"I played in three Afcon tournaments and have also coached in the competition, so it’s a source of immense pride for me. I'm proud of what it represents.
“The last tournament in Côte d'Ivoire, for example, was watched globally, and the quality of football was exceptional. Carragher's comments were emotional rather than thoughtful. I’m sure he’ll reflect on them and eventually apologise.”
Earlier this week, former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand also took exception to Carragher’s comments.
"That comment [Carragher's] is representative of the majority of people out there," Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.
"The majority of people out there would say that. I don't think that's right, I think that's an ignorant thought process because the [Africa Cup of Nations] ... If you go to Didier Drogba, Abedi Pele, Samuel Eto'o, Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané they will tell you we have to win this.”