Izuchukwu Okosi
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Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick has admitted that the Federation spoke with AS Roma gaffer Jose Mourinho about taking the Super Eagles to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Former Porto, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter, Man United and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mourinho is said to have recommended former Venezuela head coach Jose Peserio to the NFF with a view to replacing Franco-German Gernot Rohr who was sacked despite a decent record in charge of the team.
However Pinnick has disclosed that the Federation have also spoken to UEFA Champions League winner Mourinho about the role even as Austin Eguavoen is expected to lead the team to Cameroon with the tournament now less than three weeks.
“The emphasis on the new coach is discipline,’ he said. ‘We will also look at how hungry he is to win trophies because if they are hungry it supersedes so many things and if he wants to win he will instil discipline,” several English tabloids report on Friday with quotes credited to the Daily Trust.
“Of course Mourinho – I am not going to tell you we didn’t talk to Mourinho because we did and the (sports) minister also talked to Mourinho and there is nothing wrong with it.
”If the coach will give us the Nations Cup, he will be drafted in immediately. I am not going to tell you that it will be later, because of what essence is the recruitment? If the executive committee says yes and we are ready, what are we waiting for?
Although his tenure has not got off to the best start – with his side sixth in Serie A and 14 points off leaders Inter Milan – it is unlikely Mourinho would abandon ship this early into his spell.
Pinnick also talked about the other coaches the NFF eggheads have spoken with.
”We have spoken to three top coaches and Peseiro, whose name has been going around, is one of the coaches and I can tell you he is a top coach.
‘We also talked to Krstajic but after talking to him he got a job with a top club in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv. You can see these are coaches that are hungry and ready to take Nigeria as a home; they are people that we know are ready to face the challenge from the 200 million Nigerians.
They are coaches who the players cannot be bigger than and I believe we are doing everything we can and that’s why we interface with the ministry on every level.
‘When I spoke with one of the coaches on Tuesday, he was already scouting our players and was telling me things I didn’t even know about our players. It was quite impressive and he told me the strength of each player and he took me off guard. We are not going to experiment and if he can win the Nations Cup, no problem.
‘We know [interim coach Augustine] Eguavoen can do it, but we also want someone who can do it better. If we are unable to sign him soon, then we will work with the current team. But I am not going to tell you that if we have him signed today, he is not going to lead the team to the AFCON.’
The Eagles are expected to start a one-week training camp in Abuja before jetting off to Cameroon for the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
