The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will likely appoint a new coach for the senior national team of Nigeria before end of this month to replace Jose Peseiro, who left his role upon the expiration of his contract at the end of February, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
As many as seven coaches have been shortlisted for the job by the NFF, and we exclusively gathered that the list has three foreign coaches and four indigenous coaches with interview set to be conducted in the coming weeks.
Among the foreign coaches who applied for the job is former coach of the senior national team of Cameroon Antonio Conceição. The coach according to a chieftain of the NFF is currently having an edge over applicants based on what they stipulated as requirements to clinch the job.
” The Portuguese ( Conceição) has an edge I can’t deny because among all the coaches he is the one who is top in the area of a proven track record in Africa, which is one of the things we listed as an added advantage for the job. However so many things will still be considered before a final decision is taken”, he said on the condition of anonymity.
He however said regardless of who get appointed, the interim head coach of the team Finidi George will still remain as a part of the backroom staff of the team for the sake of helping the new coach get used to the players in the setup and the system.
” Finidi will stay in the job regardless, unless he says no. The reason is that we want someone who has worked with the team before to be a part of the setup to help the new coach because we don’t have another game before the resumption of the 2026 World cup qualifiers in June”, he concluded.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
