By Daily Sports Nigeria on March 13, 2024

Fans and readers of PUNCH Sports Extra have voted Atlanta ’96 gold medallist, Emmanuel Amuneke, as the next man to coach the Super Eagles following the exit of Jose Peseiro last month.

The former Barcelona winger was given the nod ahead of Eagles assistant coach, Finidi George, former Eagles captain and coach, Sunday Oliseh, U.S. men’s U-19 national team coach of Nigerian descent, Michael Nsien, and others.

After guiding Nigeria to a second-place finish at the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, Portuguese coach Peseiro confirmed his departure after his contract officially expired last month.

The NFF last Friday declared the position of the Eagles head coach vacant while announcing that it was shopping for a new tactician for the team.

In an advertisement on its website calling for applications, the football governing body stated that the prospective Super Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”

In a poll conducted by PUNCH Sports Extra, a large number of Nigerians believe Amuneke has the experience and technical know-how to be handed the Eagles job ahead of others.

Out of the 100 votes by the readers and fans, Amuneke scored 53 per cent to come tops, while Finidi came a distant second with 15 per cent.

Oliseh, who was in charge of the team between 2015 to 2016, ended up in third place with 12 per cent of the total votes, while fourth-place Nsien had seven per cent.

The remaining 13 per cent was shared among South African gaffer Pitso Mosimane, Samson Siasia, Andrew Uwe, former Cameroon coach Antonio Conceição, and ex-Eagles goalkeeper, Ndubuisi Egbo.

According to the voters, Amuneke has an impressive CV as a player and a coach.

As a player, during his time with Zamalek, Amuneke lifted the Egyptian Premier League twice (1991/92, 1992/93), the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1993 and the CAF Super Cup in 1994. He won the Taça de Portugal with Sporting CP during the 1994/95 season before claiming the Copa del Rey with Barcelona in 1997.

Aside from winning titles in Egypt, Portugal and Spain, Amuneke won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 and claimed the football gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

As a coach, Amuneke holds the UEFA Pro License as well as the UEFA ‘A’ and ‘B’ coaching badges.

The UEFA Pro Licence is the final coaching qualification available after the completion of the UEFA ‘B’ and ‘A’ Licenses.

The 53-year-old led the Golden Eaglets to win the 2015 U-17 World Cup, two years after winning the trophy as the team’s assistant coach.

The former Zamalek winger then guided the Tanzanian national team to the 2019 AFCON, the country’s first appearance at the tournament in 39 years.

Thus, it didn’t come as a surprise that Amuneke, a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group at the Russia 2018 World Cup, emerged as a favourite for the job among the country’s football faithful.

Finidi, Amuneke’s national teammate, came second in the poll.

Currently in charge of Nigeria Premier Football League champions, Enyimba, Finidi worked as assistant coach to Peseiro, hence the reason some fans want him to be in charge of the team.

The 52-year-old made a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team that won eight major titles, including the 1995 Champions League – before moving to Spain where he spent several years with Real Betis.

Finidi was an important member of the Nigeria team during the 1990s, appearing in two World Cups.

In his second season with Enyimba, he won his first title as a coach after guiding the club to reclaim the Nigeria Premier League in Lagos.

Former Eagles coach Oliseh ranks third in the poll.

Regarded as one of the best African midfielders of all time, the former Borussia Dortmund player has been without a job since August 2022 after quitting his role as head coach of German club SV 19 Straelen after just two months in charge, following a string of five defeats in five games.

During his stint with the Eagles, Oliseh had an impressive record in the seven games he was in charge of the side: three wins, one loss, eight goals scored and three goals conceded.

Barely eight months into his stay as Eagles coach, Oliseh resigned exactly a month to the team’s crucial AFCON qualifier against Egypt, citing contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages and benefits to his players, assistant coaches and himself as reasons for his exit.

Little-known American-Nigerian Nsien finished in fourth position with seven votes from the pole conducted by PUNCH Sports Extra.

Nsien, in a recent exclusive interview with PUNCH Sports Extra, explained why he was the best man for the Eagles job.

Back in Nigeria, Nsien’s name hardly rings a bell in the football sector. But in the United States, it’s the exact opposite — Nsien, whose father hails from Eket in Akwa Ibom State, is one of the elite coaches revolutionising soccer and taking the game to the next level in the US, his country of birth.

The 43-year-old, who holds a US Soccer Pro License (the first African-American to earn it in 2020) and UEFA ‘A’ License, is seen by his peers in the US as a trailblazer in a sector with very few black coaches.

Nsien’s impressive work as a youth soccer coach in Tulsa caught the attention of the United States Soccer Federation officials, who named him their U-16 MYNT in November 2022.

The coach of Nigerian descent was quickly promoted to manage their U-19 team last September after guiding the U-16 MYNT to a 4-1-1 international record with wins against England, Japan, Nigeria and Wales before serving as an assistant to interim USMNT head coach B.J. Callaghan during the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

It thus didn’t come as a surprise that he was voted to be the Eagles coach by those who have monitored his progress.

However, a few fans pitched their tents in favour of former KF Tirana manager Egbo, Samson Siasia, Andrew Uwe and South Africa’s Mosimane.

Source Punch Ng

Posted March 13, 2024

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