Plans by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to announce a new foreign coach for the Super Falcons this week may have suffered a ‘little delay.’
The Guardian learnt yesterday that the football house had reached agreement with a foreign tactician to step into the shoes of Swede coach, Thomas Dennerby, who left the Super Falcons job last September after 18 months in charge.
A top official of the NFF disclosed that because the salary and other emoluments demanded by the foreign coach was huge, the process had to go through the Bureau Of Public Procurement (BPP). He added: “As soon as that is sorted out we will announce a new coach for the Super Falcons.”
Meanwhile, two former handlers of the Super Falcons, Ismaila Mabo and Godwin Izilien have told the NFF to ‘stop wasting money’ on foreign managers, arguing that Nigeria has quality coaches capable of leading the team to success at the world stage.
Mabo, whose record of taking the team to the quarterfinal at the USA ’99 World Cup is yet to be equaled, is of the opinion that Nigerians, particularly ex-Falcons players, stand a better chance of achieving good results for the team than foreign coaches.
“It is a complete waste of money hiring foreign coaches for the Super Falcons at this stage because our ex-players are now mature and have enough experience to lead the team. I want the NFF to look inward before taking a final decision this time,” Mabo stated.
On his part, Izilien, who led the Falcons to win the AWCON title at South Africa 2004, implored the NFF to prioritise getting a Nigerian coach for the team and abandon the search for a foreign coach.
“I have been shouting that it would be unwise for the NFF to throw money on another foreign coach when we have capable hands who can deliver for the team,” Izilien said.
Also, Super Falcons midfielder, Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene, says former handler, Coach Florence Omagbemi, is suitable for the Super Falcons’ job.
Since the departure of Coach Thomas Dennerby, NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, has insisted on appointing a world-class coach for the team. Okobi-Okeoghene, who plays for Eskilstuna United of Sweden, feels Omagbemi is the best choice.
“I played under Coach Omagbemi at Cameroun 2016 AWCON, and she made a great impact. A coach is supposed to be a friend to the team and Omagbemi is one perfect person at that. As an ex-player, Omagbemi is a woman, who understands how players feel. She understands the players more. She knows what the girls like and she always wants to see us grow. They are unlike the foreign coaches, who just come and choose players based on what they see on television.”
The Guardian recalls that Omagbemi won the AWCON title in 2016 in Cameroun, but the NFF refused to renew her contract a few weeks later.
