Tom Sainfiet Ditches Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon to Pick Up Philippines Coaching Job

• Tom Saintfiet has been named coach of the Philippines
• The former Gambia coach resigned after AFCON 2023
• Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon were all interested in him

Former Gambia coach, Tom Saintfiet, has been named the new head coach of the Philippines national football team.

The Belgium trainer replaces Michael Weiss less than a month before the next international assignment. The Philippines will face Iraq on March 22, 2024, in the World Cup qualifiers.

Saintfiet left his job as Gambia manager following the West African nation's early AFCON exit in Ivory Coast.

The experienced gaffer was on the radar of several African countries after leading the Gambia to back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon have all spoken the coach while China in Asia were also interested in his services.

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However, Saintfiet decided to take over as the coach of the Philippines, claiming he was excited by the project.

"I was in need of an ambitious task, a project," said the Belgian, when explaining why he accepted the appointment," he said during his presentation, as quoted by ESPN.

"My experience in national team football is that it's not always the best players who win games. It's personality, commitment. Playing for your country is the highest you can achieve."

The PFF Director of National Teams, Freddy Gonzalez disclosed that Saintfiet declined a last-minute offer to lead the Philippines.

"I can be pretty convincing when I want to be. Of course, he was one of the candidates. He was not the only one but after interviewing everyone, I felt he matched what we want," he said at a presser.

"Initially, when we were talking, he was already asked by Ghana, Nigeria and China to coach their teams. I was able to convince him to leave those offers and come here but then at the last second Samuel Eto'o called him up, about a week ago, wanting him to be the coach of Cameroon. I am so glad he chose us," he added.

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Ghana are still in a hunt for a new coach while the contracts of Jose Peseiro and Rigobert Song expire at the end of the month.

Cameroon FA rejects Eto'o's resignation

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that the Cameroonian Football Federation rejected Eto'o's decision to resign as the head of FECAFOOT.

His decision to resign came after the Indomitable Lions were eliminated in the Round of 16 of the just-ended Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.