Sport Minister wants competent Super Eagles coach
Nigeria Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has said he would prefer a competent coach for the Super Eagles but has not ruled out current manager Gernot Rohr from the job.
Rohr’s contract with the national team expires in June but he is yet to reach an agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on a new deal.
The delay to Rohr’s contract renewal has increased speculation that the federation might not want the German tactician to continue as manager of the Super Eagles.
The 66-year-old has, however, been sent contract papers with reportedly stringent conditions, including having to live in Nigeria, among others.
Dare stated his desire is to see that the Super Eagles is in the best hands, given the quality of players in the national team.
“All I want is a coach that is competent, I don’t care whether it is Rohr or not. The name doesn’t matter, but does he have the credentials?” Dare said in a video made available to media.
“Look at our footballers, they play in some of the best clubs in the world and are coached by some of the best coaches.
“So if you want to coach a Nigerian team, you better be sound because the invited players that are going to represent the country train under the best coaches, therefore, we don’t want a player that is sounder than the coach.”
Rohr has been in charge of the three-time African champions since 2016 and led the side to the 2018 World Cup in Russia where they were eliminated in the group stage.
The German tactician guided the Super Eagles to clinch their eighth bronze medal at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
Clemens Westerhof is regarded as the best foreign coach to have manager the Nigeria national team, helping the West Africans to clinch their second continental title in 1994, after finishing as runners-up in the 1990 edition under him.
The Dutch tactician also led the side to the second round of the 1994 World Cup after finishing as winners of Group D, which comprised Argentina, Bulgaria and Greece.
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He nurtured the likes of Jay-Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Nwankwo Kanu, Rashidi Yekini, and Daniel Amokachi, who went on to have great careers with European clubs.