The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnink, has debunked claims that the body was trying to replace Super Eagles’ coach Sunday Oliseh with a European tactician.
He confirmed the body was concerned with the apparent lack of goals by the Eagles but said it was confident in the abilities of Oliseh to resolve any niggling issues.
“I never said we wanted a coach whether European or Nigeria for the Eagles. What I said when the issue of goal scoring was raised, was that we will find a way around it; a way to achieve higher number of goals.
“I said we believe in the technical abilities of our coach but if need be, we can interface with any other system to tap ideas. In that way an Oliseh and a Guardiola, for instance, can liaise and exchange ideas. That’s all I said in that regard. That’s the kind of idea the FA can be looking at,” he said in Lagos on Thursday.
Pinnick added that Nigerians were putting the body under pressure with the incessant demand for trophies.
“This year we have won trophies but that is not the ultimate. The ultimate drive is having a dependable football culture and this we must educate Nigerians on. A proper football culture will rub off positively in all aspects of our football.
“We can look at England. The last time they won a major trophy was in 1966 but nobody wakes up every day to call for the sack of the FA because there’s a good system that has been entrenched; they have a vibrant football culture. We want to develop a system that will not only help the national teams but will also properly enhance the capacities of the clubs and the leagues.”