Just like it happened to him in 2002 when he was sacked after leading the Eagles to the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup, Super Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu, may soon be relieved of his job. Already, machinery has been set in motion to begin the search for a new coach with Russian coach, Gus Hiddink, and Ireland coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, pencilled down, should both countries fail to qualify for the World Cup.
Officials of the Nigeria Football Federation said both the federation and the Presidential Task Force for the 2010 World Cup were in agreement that Amodu must go.
The subject of debate has been whether he should stay as the Eagles team manager or be sacked. Some board members argued that pay-off will be a better option than having him around the team, as they fear he may sabotage the new man.
Amodu, according to the board members, lacks the ability to stamp his authority on the players' general tactical and technical indiscipline, their lack of commitment, turning the national team into a rehabilitation camp for tired legs.
While Hiddink and Trapattoni will know their fate on Wednesday when Russia play Slovenia and France take on Ireland. The other coaches the NFF may look at are:
Sunday Oliseh
He earned his first Nigeria cap at age 19. During his international career, the central midfielder played in three African Nations Cup - Tunisia 94, Nigeria/Ghana 2002 and Mali 2002. He had two World Cup appearances. Oliseh retired from active football in 2006 after having garnered 63 caps and four goals playing for Nigeria. He played for 10 clubs. He won one African Nations Cup trophy, an Olympic football gold, Bundesliga champion with Borussia Dortmund in 2002. He currently has all the UEFA certification and worked at two Belgian clubs, AS Eupen as director of football, and RCS Vervietois as first team coach.
Roberto Mancini
He won the Coppa Italia (Italy Cup) on his first occasion as manager in 2001 and was appointed manager of Lazio in 2002 where he won the Coppa Italia in 2004. He, thereafter, moved to Inter Milan and won both the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) in 2005 and 2006. He also won three Scudetti (2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08).
Juande Ramos
A former Spanish footballer and manager, Ramos was a footballer who retired at the age of 28 due to injury. He went on to coach clubs like Sevilla where he won the UEFA Cup and led Sevilla to a third place finish in the La Liga in the 2006/07 season. He became Tottenham Hotspur Manager in 2007. He also led Tottenham to defeat Chelsea in the Carling Cup final at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium as well as qualifying for the 2008/09 Euro Cup. He subsequently coached Real Madrid and CSKA.
Marcel van Basten
The Dutch manager is a former footballer and played for high profile clubs like Ajax Amsterdam and AC Milan. He was also named European Footballer of the Year thrice - in 1988, 1989 and 1992 - as well as the FIFA World Player of the year in 1992. In 2004, he became the manager of the Dutch national team and under his guidance, the team made it to the Round of 16 in the 2006 World Cup, having been unbeaten in their qualifying group. The 45-year-old also coached Ajax from 2008 to 2009.
Jurgen Klinsmann
Klinsmann was a member of the West Germany team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and played for top clubs like Inter Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Sampdoria and Bayern Munich. He took up the German National Team job in 2004. He led Germany to the 2006 World Cup (which they hosted) and won their entire group matches. The team made it to the semi-finals but were beaten 2-0 by Italy. He resigned after the World Cup and became manager of Bayern Munich in 2008 but was sacked barely a year later after a series of poor results.
Reader Comments (126)
post a comment
* = Required information