The sword of Damocles dangles dangerously above the seat of
Nigeria's national coach's seat.
If the past is anything to go by, recently fired coach,
Stephen Keshi will probably be back someday, in some capacity.
Having been sacked by Togo in 2006 and by Mali in 2010,
Keshi was probably not surprised by his latest misfortune after three years as
coach of the Super Eagles.
Keshi's only regret, perhaps, would be that he allowed
himself to be cajoled into rescinding his July 2014 resignation, after Nigeria
were knocked out of the World Cup in the second round.
Samson Siasia, the man he took over from in 2011, is now
returning as coach of the U-23 national team.
Keshi's successor Amodu Shuaibu has been coach of the Super
Eagles on four previous occasions, and technical director (overseeing all the
national teams) once.
At least three of those coaching engagements ended
unceremoniously– January 1997, February 2002, and February 2010 (the last two
shortly after he helped Nigeria secure qualification for the World Cup).
Shuaibu will, according to his terms of engagement, an
interim coach, until a foreign coach is appointed. His immediate task will be
to ensure Nigeria qualifies for the 2015 Nations Cup in Morocco.
Keshi has an enviable playing record, he was captain of the
Super Eagles for 11 years, leading them to their first Nations Cup win in 14
years, and first World Cup appearance – both in 1994.
He led Nigeria to the 2013 African Nations Cup victory as
coach, making him one of only two Africans to ever win as player and coach.
He also got the team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup,
where he became the first African coach ever to reach the tournament's second
round.
But in his final days he produced a string of dismal
performances – featuring only one win in 11 matches.
That 3-1 defeat of Sudan in his final game was not enough to
save him from the ever-dangling axe of a crisis-ridden Nigerian Football
Federation.
No comments:
Post a Comment