The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Ibrahim Gusau, has announced that the process of appointing a new head coach for the Super Eagles is nearing completion. This development comes as the federation seeks to strengthen the national team ahead of upcoming competitions. Gusau emphasized that the NFF is committed to finding the right leader who can guide the Super Eagles to success on the international stage. Further details regarding the potential candidates and the timeline for the official announcement are expected soon.
Gusau stated that the NFF is being meticulous in choosing the coach for the senior national team to ensure that Nigerians will not question the final decision once it is announced. He revealed that the federation had nearly finalized a deal with Bruno Labbadia as the Eagles’ coach, but interference from agents with unreasonable demands disrupted the process. Gusau expressed confidence that the new coach under consideration will elevate the Super Eagles to the next level.“Getting a coach for the Super Eagles is a process, but along the line, we began a process and almost concluded. We reached an agreement, but later the middlemen scuttled the arrangement with demands that we never agreed to,” Gusau told NFF TV. “We cannot sit down and engage our country into something people will start raising questions that will be difficult to answer. We are almost done about it and we will do our best to ensure that by the time we come up with a coach, it is going to be a coach that will take us to the level we should be.”
Gusau has defended the recent coaching appointments for the national team, emphasizing that merit is the primary consideration for the football federation. He noted that interim coach Austin Eguavoen was given the freedom to select his support staff, leading to the inclusion of Fidelis Ilechukwu from Rangers International FC and Daniel Ogunmodede from Remo Stars, whom he described as the two best young coaches currently in the league.
“When we gave Augustine Eguavoen the chance to manage the Super Eagles on an interim basis, he decided to go for those that we claim to be the young and best coaches in the league, Fidelis Ilechukwu of Rangers and Daniel Ogunmodede of Remo Stars, and no one can dispute it because we know they deserve to be there,” Gusau stated. He further insisted that the appointment of Aliyu Zubairu was made based on the recommendation of the NFF’s Technical and Development Committee.
Gusau continued, “We have a coach in the Under 20. We looked at merit and gave the technical committee the opportunity to evaluate who is best suited for the position based on current form and their ability to deliver what we want. The committee decided to bring in Aliyu Zubairu as coach, who is the head coach of El Kanemi Warriors and led the team to the President’s Federation Cup title while they were in the second division.”
“They also qualified to the NPFL, and everybody is seeing the performance of his boys in the top flight. When the committee ruled he would be in charge, we didn’t dispute it.” Gusau emphasized the confidence in Zubairu’s capabilities, highlighting the progress and achievements of his team as evidence of his qualifications for the role.
