As Nigeria continue the search for a new coach of the senior national team, players of the team have voiced out on who they think is best to lead the team following the departure of Jose Peseiro as coach of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
Peseiro left his post as the coach of the team following the expiration of his deal and the inability to reach an agreement on extending his deal, despite meeting the target of reaching the semi final of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The team went all the way to the final where they were eventually beaten by the host Cote d’Ivoire 1-2 in the final. They will return to action later this month with two high profile games against Ghana and Mali respectively in Morocco.
Ahead of the games, players of the team have voiced their opinion over the vacant managerial position and have made it known whom they will want to take over as coach, particularly if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) insist on hiring amd indigenous coach for the team.
Six of them who spoke to OwnGoalNigeria.com on the condition of anonymity backed the present assistant coach of the team Finidi George to be elevated to the role of the head coach of the team.
In their words Finidi has been a part of the setup with Peseiro and understands the players and the conditions around, hence won’t need much time to get used to them considering that they have just one window to work with whoever comes in as coach, before the resumption of the qualifiers for the 2026 world cup in June.
Their opinion has already been made known to the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusau, who is under pressure to name another person as coach of the team, but still somehow favours a foreign coach ahead of any indigenous coach.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman