With the next World Cup just two years away, Super Eagles do not possess the luxury of time to be left with an interim coach while Glass House masters continue waiting for signals from wherever, to engage a substantive manager, black or white. Jose Peseiro, the Portuguese who led the team to African Nations Cup silver last month, has waved bye to Nigeria. Having surpassed the semifinals target given him by his employers, the man has every cause to move around with confidence.

Finding a replacement should not take long. The NFF already knew that if Peseiro failed to advance beyond the quarter finals in Cote d’Ivoire, his job was up for grabs. We assume that communication with eligible coaches was opened before the championship. However, given the short time available for the next games of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, it will be unwise to look outside Nigeria for the next coach of the national team. The new man must be able to adapt to the murky terrain of tropical soccer management. Clemens Westerhof was able to excel because of the ample time available to build a World Class squad.

His first game in charge, ended in disaster as Cameroon dimmed Nigeria’s Italia 90 World Cup hopes on a day keeper David Ngodigha was stretchered out. Westerhof had dropped first choice goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, leaving the team with only Alloy Agu, after Ngodigha’s predicament. While Rufai was based in Europe, Ngodigha and Agu were home based players. The Dutchman settled down to work, after that ouster.

He turned his attention to the domestic league. A pleasant opportunity came, very early, in January 1990 when he won the ECOWAS Cup gold with players from the domestic league. Some of the players, Daniel Amokachi, Ben Iroha, Okey Uche, Aloy Agu and Moses Kpakor went on to become key members of the new Super Eagles. Westerhof took the same team, spiced with Andrew Uwe, Ademola Adesina and Rashidi Yekini, all plying their trade outside the shores of the country, to win silver at the Algeria 1990 African Nations Cup.

No other expatriate has surpassed Westerhoff’s World Cup performance, a Second Round placing at the USA’94 Mundial. Stephen Keshi equalled that record in 2014. Like Westerhof, Keshi also won African Nations Cup gold and qualified the Eagles for the World Cup. Credit should go to Shuaibu Amodu, the only coach to pick two World Cup tickets with the Eagles. Unfortunately, he was rewarded with disappointment.

In 2002, Adegboye Onigbinde was hired to take the team to Korea/ Japan 2002. In 2010, Lars Lagerback, a Swede, enjoyed the World Cup slot. Neither of them did better than a group stage achievement. Bora Militinovic, with all his World Cup experience, reaped where he did not sow, when Philipe Troussier, was sacked after opening the door to France’98 to the Eagles. In France, they lost in the Second Round. The NFF boasted that the ‘Miracle Worker’ was going to perform magic.

That a manager has handled big clubs or elite countries outside Africa, does not translate to advantage. Westerhof had no World Cup pedigree, yet Bora could not do any better. The little success achieved by Gernot Rohr was because he had worked in Africa – Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso, respectively. Lagerback could not win a match in 2010; Keshi won two matches in 2014. Westerhof had no way round Argentina in 1994, just like Onigbinde in 2002, Lagerback in 2010, Keshi in 2014 and Rohr in 2018. Only Keshi’s team could score twice against the Argentines.

Former Eagles utility player, Emeka Ezeugo, has not seen the Eagles World Cup veterans that can manage the team. His conviction is that the NFF will be too strong for them to have a mind of their own. This is debatable. Finidi George and Emmanuel Amuneke are available. It is misleading to limit capability to World Cup appearance. Westerhof did not play for the Orange Gang of the Netherlands. Amodu did not feature for the Eagles as a player.

There are many Nigerians, qualified coaches, who have shown interest in leading the senior national team. Andrew Uwe, an African Nations Cup veteran, has coaching certificates from two continents – North America and Europe. He is also a licensed referee.

A man who led the Flying Eagles to their first FIFA World Under-20 World Championships medal, in 1985 does not need a certificate from the London Business School to excel. Samson Siasia won the African Nations Cup as a player and as a coach, has two different Olympic Games medals hanging round his neck. At a time when the dollar is scarce, prudence should teach us Home Economics 101!

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