NFF: Give Amunike Super Eagles Job, Now!

I watched the Nigeria vs Ivory Coast AFCON final match on Sunday Feb. 11, silently praying for our opponent to defeat us! I wanted Nigeria crushed. Not that I was put off by the lacklustre performance of the Super Eagles on the night. And it’s not because I don’t like my country. There’s no country I love better than Nigeria.

 But I was sad that our opponents played better than us even though the coach who brought them to the finals is a young ex-international citizen of Ivory Coast, not a high-flying European tactician. I’m not a fanatical team supporter. I just love good, entertaining football. The Elephants of Ivory Coast gave it to me. The Super Eagles of Nigeria did not!

Each time the television camera zoomed on the Ivory Coast coach, Emerse Fae, I felt his anxiety and the all-consuming desire to see his country win. He wanted to make a statement. Having being given the job right there in Abidjan after the sacking of the French coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, he wanted his employers to see how foolish they had been by going all the way to France to get a coach who almost cost the country the AFCON Cup!

Conversely, when Jose Peseiro appears on my tv screen, I felt diminished. He reminded me that Nigerians don’t believe in themselves. I saw a man on a mission, the mission to convince his employers he was good enough. Not a man desperate for the Cup.  How could he motivate the players when he’s not one of them? The Elephants of Ivory Coast were clearly the motivated team on the night. They played for their coach, they played for their country.

When the match ended, Emerse Fae ended the doubt and ignited the believe– the believe in self! The Elephants’ victory was his victory. He shamed the officials in his country who had no foresight. His victory was also a condemnation of Nigerian officials who’re killing the sport by not supporting local talents.

I didn’t know what was on the mind of Nigeria’s ex-international Kanu Nwankwo on the night. But he cut a pitiable sight as Nigeria went down in Abidjan. For the entire second half of the match, Kanu Nwankwo looked like a man in shock; a man trying to decipher what was wrong with Nigerian football.

Well, Emerse Fae provided the answer– self-doubt. As long as we continue to doubt Nigerian coaches and fly through the planet to hire any available European coach, our football teams will continue to doubt themselves.  The Ivorians lost 1-0 to Nigeria in their second match before losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea, their heaviest-ever home defeat. It led to the sacking of coach Jean-Louis Gasset, the French tactician who took the team to the tournament. Fae, one of his assistants, was then appointed to take charge.

I don’t care how good a foreign coach is. I don’t give a damn about the richness of his CV. A foreigner should not coach a national team, especially where there’s abundance of local expertise as we have in Nigeria. A country as large and talented as Nigeria has no business hiring a foreign coach for its national teams.

Many great footballing countries in Africa are turning to their former players . The Egyptian Football Federation recently appointed Hossam Hassan as the head coach of the Egyptian first team, to replace Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria. Ex-international Aliou Cissé has been the coach of Senegal for sometimes now while Jalel Kadri has been coaching the Tunisia team since January 2022.

Former Nigeria international, Emmanuel Amuneke was appointed assistant coach of the Super Eagles in February 2022. There are speculations in the media that the Nigerian Football Federation may appoint him to replace Paseiro after AFCON. Well, that has not happened yet. But if they do, it will be very good news for Nigerian football.

Amunike has the pedigree to take the job. He coached the Nigeria U17 national team to win the World Cup in 2015. He was the coach of the Tanzania national team when they qualified for AFCON in 2019. He was part of the consortium of coaches headed by Augustine Eguavoen, alongside the likes of Salisu Yusuf, Paul Aigbogun and Joseph Yobo.

He was one of those who questioned Paseiro’s tactics during the recently concluded AFCON tournament. He criticised Peseiro’s defensive approach, which affected the attacking prowess of our players, especially Victor Osimhen, in Ivory Coast.

A brilliant winger during his time with the national team, he played 27 times for Nigeria, scoring nine goals, and was part of the team that participated at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, scoring against Bulgaria and Italy. Also, in that year, he helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, and was voted African Footballer of the Year.

When asked recently about the Super Eagles job, THE WHISTLER reported him as saying he was ready for the job if the football authorities think he’s the man for the job. “I am a Nigerian, all my life I have served Nigeria as a player. If Nigerians now find me fit to add value to the team, of course, it is a welcome development,” he said.

There’s no reason why he should be overlooked for the job. The NFF has an opportunity to do the right thing for Nigerian football again by hiring a former player and coach who has shown great passion for the game and for the country. We must start believing in ourselves again. The NFF must stop insulting Nigerians by putting a stop to hiring foreign football coaches.

Frankly, I think we ridicule Nigerian football and undervalue our ex-internationals each time we hire foreigners to coach our national teams. Nigerian football used to have an identity, a style. But we have lost that now because of the type of people coaching the team over the years. Countries with footballing identities such as Spain, Brazil and Argentina have their ex-players as national team coaches. That’s how they’re able to retain their football style.

The NFF should do same and watch the teams transform. Nigeria must look inwards, even in the development of football. The time is now. Sack Paseiro now. Give Amunike the job.