Panic for Eguavoen As NFF President Amaju Pinnick Reveals When New Foreign Coach Will Be Named

• Amaju Pinnick has disclosed that it is possible that a foreign coach leads the Super Eagles to the AFCON tournament
• AFCON 2022 starts in Cameroon on January 9, and at the moment, Augustine Eguavoen is billed to lead Nigeria to the continental showpiece
• The NFF boss has now disclosed that the football house remain open to the possibility of appointing a new head coach before the start of the competition

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has disclosed that the football house is still in desperate search for a foreign coach for the Super Eagles.

Pinnick has not ruled out the possibility of an expatriate leading Nigeria to the AFCON tournament which kicks off on January 9.

Gernot Rohr was sacked from his position as coach of the team after NFF officials claim the Franco-German was ousted to avert a ‘disaster waiting to happen.’

And immediately, technical director Augustine Eguavoen was appointed to take over the role temporarily and possibly guide the Super Eagles to the continental showpiece.

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But Pinnick has now stated that the NFF remain open to the possibility of appointing a new head coach before the start of the competition.

What did Pinnick say?

The NFF president said via Complete Sports:

“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?

“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.

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“We know 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.”

Meanwhile, Sports Brief earlier reported Pinnick has revealed that the federation spoke with AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho and Fifa Chief of Global Football Arsene Wenger as Nigeria continues its search for a new coach.

The FIFA executive board member, during a press parley on Wednesday, disclosed the Nigerian Football Federation had made contact with former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.

Nigeria are drawn in Group D alongside Pharaohs of Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Sudan in the preliminary round of the tournament.