Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, are in the hunt for a new manager after Jose Peseiro announced his decision to step down following the expiration of his contract after the 2023 AFCON.
Jose Peseiro led the Super Eagles to the 2023 AFCON final where they lost 2-1 to the Elephants of Ivory Coast. It was an overly impressive run for the Portuguese tactician and former Real Madrid assistant manager who won Nigeria their 5th AFCON silver medal.
After the tournament, Peseiro refused to pen down a new deal with the Super Eagles, taking to social media to announce his departure.
Since his exit, the search for a new hand to take over the Super Eagles job has begun with the NFF announcing a vacancy for the role and other related positions on social media.
Some indigenous managers such as Emmanuel Amuneke and Austin Eguavoen have been tipped as favorites to replace Jose Peseiro. And the pair have been handed a boost as Nigeria football legend Vincent Enyeama has thrown his weight to support the emergence of an indigenous manager as the new Super Eagles coach.
Speaking on LagosTalkFM, Vincent Enyeama elaborated on the inherent bias by the NFF towards local football managers in Nigeria when recruiting for the top job for the Super Eagles.
According to the legendary goalie, he doesn’t mind having a foreigner take over the reins as Super Eagles manager, but indigenous managers should be prioritized.
“I don’t mind foreign coaches, but it’s a problem if we don’t support our local coaches,” he said.
Back then, the only player who was respected was the late Stephen Keshi. Siasia also received recognition because of the players he selected.”
The NFF have a history of recruiting foreign managers for the Super Eagles job from Gernot Rohr (2016-2020), Las Lagerback (Sweden) 2010, Berti Vogts (Germany) 2007-2008, Thijs Libregts (Holland) 1998-1999, Bora Milutinovic (Serbia) 1998, and Philippe Troussier (France) 1997.
Late Stephen Keshi was the first indigenous manager to win AFCON with the Super Eagles, and Austin Eguavoen the most recent indigenous hand at the job.
