The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has taken a bold step towards getting a new coach for the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the next international break, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria have been without a coach since the exit of Finidi George following a poor performance in the last world cup qualifiers games, where they were held to a 1-1 draw by South Africa before losing 1-2 to Benin Republic. It meant they slipped to 5th in the six team group.
In a communique made available to the public, the NFF made it clear that they are going for an expatriate coach to handle the team before the start of the qualifiers for the AFCON, which begins in September.
According to Footmercato.net, the NFF have identified French coach Herve Renard as the man to lead the team and have submitted a contract proposal to the representative of the two time Africa Cup of Nations winning coach.
Renard who won the AFCON with Zambia before doing the same with Cote d’Ivoire will leave his role as the coach of the women’s team of France after the Olympics, and he has his sight on a return to Africa where he made his mark before moving to Saudi Arabia.
However Nigeria are not the only country interested in hiring the coach with Egypt also in the mix despite having Hossam Hassan as their present head coach. Both teams have tabled an offer in the region of €2m a year to the coach, with another country also said to be monitoring development.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
