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Adeyinka Adedipe.
Former Super Falcons coach, Godwin Izilein, has said foreign coaches managing Nigeria’s national teams have performed below par, adding that they were only in the country for their retirement benefits
Izilein stated that Portuguese Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro and players of Nigerian descent born abroad had nothing to offer the country, noting that a developmental programme, instead, would help the country attain football greatness again.
Izilein said all the foreign coaches employed after Dutchman Clemens Westerhof did not perform well, noting that the current Eagles coach had no developmental programme for the team, which he said led to embarrassing defeats in recent times.
He said, “After the exit of Westerhof, all other foreign coaches hired to handle the Eagles have not done well. They see Nigeria as a place to get their retirement benefits. What programme does Jose Peseiro have for football development in the country? The coach and the players in diaspora have nothing to offer the country. I will urge the administrators to look towards the home league for hungry players.”
He lamented that football fans were no longer excited about the Eagles due to the lacklustre performance of the players, noting that it would be difficult to take Nigeria back to the pre-1994 World Cup era, where the likes of Rashidi Yekini, Samson Siasia and others dazzled fans with sublime skills.
He also urged the new board of the Nigeria Football Federation led by Ibrahim Gusau to put football development in the front burner, saying it’s the only way to bring back the country’s lost glory.
He added, “FIFA has a provision for development and we have the human capacity to do it, but will this new board be committed to such course as against chasing shadows? Football is a global business, and for any country to benefit from FIFA’s developmental programmes, you must have administrators who have the capacity to manage the affairs of the game in the country.
“NFF must stop this fire brigade approach to doing things because we cannot continue to do wrong things and expect good results.
“Nigeria as a country has everything it takes to win the World Cup. The FIFA grants can go a long way in putting our football in the right direction, if judiciously utilised. The 2022 World Cup miss has robbed the country of funds that could be used to reposition the game.”