NFF names Le Guen Eagles coach

Le Guen

The Nigeria Football Federation on Monday named Frenchman Paul Le Guen as the new manager of the Super Eagles.

The detail was made public by the Technical and Development Committee of the Federation who listed Le Guen, 52, as the new Technical Adviser. He will be assisted by Nigerian Salisu Yusuf, who takes the role of Chief Coach. The appointments, they said, are subject to agreement of contract terms with the NFF Executive Committee.

Le Guen was highly expected to be named the new manager. No further definition was given by the NFF on the specific roles of the technical adviser and the chief coach on Monday.

The new Eagles manager Le Guen led the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals. As a player he stared for Brest, Nantes and Paris Saint Germain and won 17 caps for France. He later coached Rennes, Lyon, PSG (in France) and Glasgow Rangers (in Scotland). He has also managed Oman.

Yusuf played for Nigeria at the U20 level. Recently, he managed the Eagles in interim capacity for two international friendly matches in Europe against Mali and Luxembourg at the end of May, which the Eagles won.

Spokesman of the NFF committee, Paul Bassey, told thenff.com after the meeting at the NFF Secretariat on Monday that Enugu Rangers gaffer Imama Amapakabo and former Super Eagles’ goalkeeper and skipper Alloy Agu, who served as assistant coach and goalkeeper trainer for the games against Mali and Luxembourg in May, retain their places in the technical crew.

The new crew’s immediate challenge is a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania in the first week of September. The match can only serve as a preparatory game for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match away to Zambia on October 3 as both Nigeria and Tanzania have long been eliminated from the 2017 African cup race.

The committee has also recommended to the NFF board, the appointment of one-time Eagles assistant coach, Bitrus Bewarang, as the new NFF Technical Director. Bewarang, who is president of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, will replace the late Coach Shaibu Amodu.