The race for who will be the next substantive coach of the senior national team of Nigeria is expected to reach a whole new height tomorrow, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
We exclusively gathered that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will screen the shortlisted candidates for the job, picked from the list of over 60 who applied for the post made vacant by the exit of Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro.
Peseiro left his role upon the expiration of his contract as coach at the end of February, a few weeks after leading the team to a second place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations losing 1-2 to the host Cote d’Ivoire.
In the list of his potential successor, the present interim coach of the team Finidi George wasn’t considered but he is prime to keep his role as one of the assistants of the new coach, due to the fact that he has been with the team for 18 months.
Finidi was knocked out of the race because he doesn’t possess a UEFA Pro coaching license, and the games which he handled the team in caretaker capacity resulted in fracas with some players in the team over his man management.
Meanwhile, three foreign coaches are currently blazing the trail in the race and they are Dutchman Danny Buijs, Portuguese coach Toni Conceição and Spanish coach Domenec Torrent.
Emmanuel Amuneke is also in the final list of coaches for the job just like the current coach of the U20 team of the United States of America Micheal Nsien. Both coaches hold UEFA pro coaching licenses and it played a role in shorting them.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
