Nigeria has yet again appointed another European tactician to manage Super Eagles, the national football team of the country. Peseiro, the new manager has until his appointment managed several amateur and top European clubs, including a short-term assistant coach role in Spanish giants, Real Madrid, but unfortunately for the Portuguese, his roles in management had always ended on a sad note. Despite his good match stats, winning 307, lost 172 and drawn 148 in his overall 627, he hardly spends a year in a team, except for his four years stay at Nacional at the beginning of his career and other amateur clubs before that. He was sacked on several occasion due to poor performance, starting with the Merengues sacking of his boss, Carlos Queiroz, the then Madrid coach and their entire crew. He was sacked for the second time at Panathinaikos after a year when he finished second in the leagues and thrashed 4-0 in the Greek Cup final by Olympiakos.
The third came at Romanian side, Bucharest, where he spent less than a year, winning only eight out of the 18 matches he played. Saudia Arabia also sacked Peseiro in 2011 after taking charge of the country’s national team in 2010, for failing to win Syria, considered the poorest team in Asia during the period at the 2011 Asian Cup. He was sacked subsequently by Egyptian side, Al Ahly, 101 days, FC Porto and FC Braga, both spending just six months and was later sacked again by UAE side, Sharjah after winning just two out of his 17 games in charge.
The journeyman unfortunate story, occasioned by serial dismissals, took another turn in Sporting CP in 2018 when he was sacked after spending 123 days, and later spent one and a half year as Venezuela head coach, where he won only one of his ten matches before he left. This data has shown that it is not possible to separate sad and embarrassing dismissal story with the man expected to lead Eagles to future victories as we bid goodwill farewell for Eguavoen in Cameroon.
The Super Eagles, NFF and foreign managers Peseiro is the first Portuguese and the 23rd European to manage Super Eagles, from Jack Finch, an English man in 1949 to date. Within this period, 72 years, the football managing body has appointed six Germans, four Netherlands, three Englishmen and two each from Brazil, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Also, one each are appointed from Spain, France, Israel, Sweden and now Portugal.
About 15 Nigerian coaches were also appointed to manage the Super Eagles within this period; but however, few of them, including other foreign coaches, were appointed more than ones. Why foreign coaches? Appointing of foreign coaches to manage the Nigerian national team at the beginning is logical considering the fact that there were little Nigerians or perhaps Africans with the skills and technical knowhows on football, unlike now when we have abundance of such resources.
Looking at the historical events in the Super Eagles camp, there are little to show from most of the foreign coaches hired by the country, but nonetheless, the records of the remaining few has placed the Nigerian national team on the spotlight in Africa and the footballing world. Except for Jack Finch (1949), an English man and first eagles’ coach, who led Nigeria to their first international match against Sierra Leon, recording also its first victory on October 8; Les Courtier (1956-60), another Englishman who dramatically beat Dahomey, now Benin Republic, 10-1 at the eve of independence, November 28, 1959, and Tihomir Jelisavcic (1974-78), a Yugoslavian also know as ‘’Father Tiko’’ who also led eagles to two third places in AFCON 1976 and 1978, only three more have made plausible strides in the nation’s football.
The most notable foreign coach that managed the eagles with remarkable record is Clemens Westerhof, a dutchman, whose period was recognized as ‘‘golden’’ period in Nigerian football history. Notable and successful Nigerian players such as Jay Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Rashidi Yekini and Daniel Amokachi and others were all product of that era.
Westerhof took Nigeria to its first World Cup and probably their best where they led a group consisting of Bulgaria, Argentina and Greece in 1994. The team reached the second round but were eliminated by Italy at the dead-end, two minutes before a victory and qualification to the quarter finals. In the same year, he led the Eagles to the Nation’s Cup victory to end the horrors of the World Cup, and thanks to his solid foundation, the team where able to record a trademark by winning the famous Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold medal, this time under a new manager, Jo Bonfrere, a fellow Dutch.
Also considered one of the great foreign Eagles coaches, Mr. Bonfrere also led Nigeria to the runner-up of 2000 Nations Cup, losing to Cameron on penalties. Otto Gloria, Brazilian and a famous Benfica manager has also made a remarkable achievement when he led Eagles to AFCON victory in 1980, while Gernot Rohr, the recently dismissed German, has in five years in-charge of Eagles, only won third place in AFCON 2019 while also eliminated at the 2018 World Cup group stages.
Rohr was appointed in 2016. Like Rohr, others such as Sabino Barinaga, Spaniard, Karl-Heinz Marotzke, German, Jorge Penna, Brazilian, and Moshe Beit-ha-Levi, an Israeli, who ensure that the 10,000 fans in Lagos left home heartbroken by a tragic evening that saw Eagles beaten 3-0 by Ghana during the independent era, and others, had done nothing to write home about. Turning home In recent times, from 2001 till date, Nigeria has appointed managers for Eagles 19 times, out of which only four are foreign while ten are Nigerians, some appointed more than once.
Among those is Stephen Keshi who was appointed on three different occasions and perhaps the most successful of them. He won AFCON in 2013 and led the team to Confederation Cup same year in Brazil, where the eagles failed to qualify from group stage. Keshi also took Nigeria to the 2014 World Cup and was knockout by France in the second round following a narrow escape qualification from the group stage.
Final takeaway Nigeria’s appointment of domestic coaches is commendable and most continue in order to achieve the desired football development in the country and African continent at large. Despite the successes recorded in football by African Stars, including black African-Europeans, there is hardly a time when they were given coaching roles in European national teams as well as clubs. While this practice has succeeded in discouraging African footballers from taking careers in management or limited their ambitions to amateur leagues, its effect can be felt in the grassroot football development in the African continent.
If Keshi, having managed more than three African national teams and who became the first African coach to qualify two African nations, Nigeria and Togo to the World Cup, others will do more great things if given the opportunity to serve. For instance, Hassan Shehata, the prominent Egyptian coach, who started as a player has one of the best records in African football managers, if not the best. Having no European football experience during his playing and coaching career, he successfully led Egypt to victory in three AFCON victories: 2006, 2008 and 2010 and became the first ever coach to win the title three times consecutively.
Shehata is one of only two coaches to win the Africa Cup three times, along with Ghana’s Charles Gyamfi, who also won in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Once a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group for the 1999 and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, Gyamfi has during his life always advocate for the development of home grown talents. South Africa’s Clive Barker, also know as ‘The Dog’ is another Africa’s best on the touching.
His biggest triumph came in 1996, just two years after the end of apartheid regime, when he guided the Bafana Bafana to an AFCON championship. His team, heralded as “nation builders” as their success injected nationalistic emotions on the national community and patriotism into the isolated corners of the country, was enough to carry the nation to their first World Cup in 1998.
These successful stories of African managers among others is enough for the continent and Nigeria to give a nationalistic approach to it’s sporting development, especially in the popular game of football, which has now, not only limited to competition and entertainment but a big business enterprise. The recent happenings around Europe on players leaving clubs for AFCON and the trails that came with it should be an eye opener for Africans and Nigeria, whose highly rated attacker, Emanuel Dennis has also been affected, to make extra efforts in developing football from the grassroot level to the top.
The ‘white-superior’ practice in football management most be eliminated, particularly within the African backyards and national teams as this will also mean the raise of patriotism in sports.
Sadiq Abubakar H. Muhammad, journalist writes from Maiduguri.
