Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced that a foreign coach will be hired in the coming weeks for the county’s national football team, the Super Eagles.
There has been public outcry on the disappointing outing of the Super Eagles in the World Cup qualifying series where Nigeria is precariously placed fifth behind South Africa, Rwanda, Lesotho and Benin Republic in the race for a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
In a bid to address the Super Eagles’ recent missteps, the NFF after a meeting on Wednesday, 12 June moved on some important decisions. The Executive Committee acknowledged the team’s “dismal output” in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers, as stated in the meeting communique, and pledged to “work assiduously” to improve their performance.
One of the principal decisions taken centered on the coaching staff confirming that the NFF confirmed will hire “an expatriate Technical Adviser for the Super Eagles in the coming weeks. This foreign coach will take the helm ahead of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers and the remaining World Cup qualifying matches.”
It was however unclear if coach Finidi George will work under the incoming foreign coach like he did under Jose Peserio or he will be cut loose from the national team. Finidi had confirmed he signed a performance-based contract with the NFF which means he could be eased off if not measuring up to the standard expected. NFF had originally muted the idea of a foreign coach before settling for Finidi.
According to a source “the original plan was to hire another capable expatriate coach to replace Peserio but they said no money for that when we approached the ministry”.
Consequently, the NFF is focused on strengthening the technical foundation of the national team besides hiring a foreign coach. That they will be “beefing” up the NFF Technical Department with more qualitative hands. With a plan to “re-jig” the Technical and Development Sub-Committee “with immediate effect.”
The NFF acknowledged the challenges faced during recent qualifiers due to a nationwide strike, and expressed their disappointment with “the poor attitude of some of the players to the National Assignment. “To address this, they plan to implement “a more robust scouting programme of outstanding Nigeria-eligible players from across the four corners of the universe.”
This wider net will hopefully identify players who can bring a renewed dedication and skillset to the national team according to the communique.
