By Saheed Afolabi
Former Nigeria head coach, Adeboye Onigbinde has clamored for the indigenous coaches to be given a chance to handle the senior national team.
Recently, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) threw open application for the Chief coach of the Super Eagles which has attracted over a dozen applicants from indigenous and foreign coaches.
Onigbinde advocated that the indigenous coaches should be given the chance and free hands to handle the Eagles considering the pool of wealth Nigeria presently have in coaches.
The Modakeke high chief narrated how he took the Super Eagles to the 1984 AFCON final before eventually loosing to Cameroon at the Felix Houphouët-Boigny stadium, Abidjan.
“I appreciate the last statement, if giving the free hands because that’s the best for the Indigenous coaches for them to succeed. Am I not a Nigerian? Am I the best Nigerian coach? Which means there may be some other people who may be better than I am,” Onigbinde was quoted by Complete Sports.
“But then, the people in Authority knows what they want and some Nigerians knows why they want what they want.
“Don’t forget that in 1984 I took the Super Eagles to the final of the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations, even though the team lost in the final to Cameroon. But then, somebody was sent from Lagos to buy the final match. The rest they say is history.”
Onigbinde was drafted in to take Nigeria to the 2022 FIFA World Cup where they were ousted in the group stage following losses to Argentina and Sweden before eventually picking up a point against England.
