Samson Siasia Calls for End to Foreign Coaches for Super Eagles and Urges Eguavoen to Resign
Former Super Eagles head coach Samson Siasia has called for a shift in the approach to coaching the Nigerian national football team, stating that the country should no longer rely on foreign managers. This comes amid speculation that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is considering appointing a foreign coach to lead the Super Eagles through the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Currently sitting fifth in their qualification group, with just three points from four matches, the Super Eagles are facing a tough challenge to secure a spot in the next World Cup. Despite this, Siasia, who led Nigeria to a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics and has extensive experience with the Flying Eagles and the Olympic team, believes the solution lies within Nigeria’s own ranks.
“We don’t want any foreign coach here because they are not coming to do anything,” Siasia declared, adding that Nigeria has enough homegrown talent to not rely on outsiders. “We have enough good materials at home that we should not be talking about hiring a foreign coach.”
In addition to his comments on foreign coaches, Siasia also addressed the future of interim head coach Austine Eguavoen. Although Eguavoen successfully guided the Super Eagles to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, his status with the team remains uncertain as the NFF has yet to make an official statement ahead of the World Cup qualifiers’ resumption.
Siasia urged Eguavoen to step down from his role as the Super Eagles head coach and focus solely on his position as the technical director of the NFF. “Eguavoen has a job already as the technical director,” Siasia said. “He should resign as Super Eagles manager and concentrate on his job. He cannot hold two positions at the same time. He should actually decide on which one to hold and leave the other.”
This latest development follows Siasia’s completion of a five-year ban imposed by FIFA for match-fixing allegations. The ban, originally a lifetime suspension, was reduced to five years after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2019.
