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Following Philippe Troussier's decision not to return to manage the Super Eagles, Sports Minister Saidu Ismaila Sambawa has ordered that the appointment of a foreign manager be suspended for the time being.
Following Philippe Troussier's decision not to return to manage the Super Eagles, Sports Minister Saidu Ismaila Sambawa has ordered that the appointment of a foreign manager be suspended for the time being. The Minister has also said that the coaching trio of Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia and Daniel Amokachi would therefore stay in charge until the end of the 2006 World Cup qualifying tournament in October.
According to a top KICK OFF source, the trio will enjoy all the necessary support to ensure that Nigeria feature at Germany 2006 and the African Cup of Nations in Egypt next year. "The Minister feels there is no need to go about chasing a foreign manager anymore, he has strong faith in the coaching crew, and he believes they are capable of delivering the hopes of Nigerians. "He feels the present debate about a foreign coach is a distraction and so everything about a new coach will have to wait till after the qualifying series in October." Sports Minister Sambawa has therefore charged Eguavoen and the other coaches to take their chance with the remaining two World Cup games. "The Minister spoke with them and told them that since they have played in the World Cup qualifiers and the finals proper, so they are not totally strange to the situation the Eagles now find themselves," the source added. "He has therefore promised to give them all the support to ensure they deliver."Earlier in the week, Frenchman Philippe Troussier declined the job, stressing that he was due to have a knee operation in September, which would rule him out of the job. Meanwhile, NFA officials have told KICK OFF that Libya have confirmed a 17 August friendly against the Eagles as part of the country's build-up to the all-important World Cup tie against Algeria in Oran on 4 September. The Libyans have offered to carry some of the expenses of this friendly, which will come up on one of the Fifa friendly days.