Odegbami
By Biodun Busari
Ex-Nigerian national team captain, Chief Segun Odegbami, has advised the federal government and the Nigeria Football Federation to hire an indigenous manager who understands the aspirations of the country for Super Eagles to perform better at the next edition of AFCON.
The Nigerian football legend said many factors can make the Super Eagles perform better at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 to be hosted in Morocco, and hiring a qualified Nigerian football manager is important.
Odegbami who said this during an exclusive interview with Vanguard said the proposal to hire an indigenous coach for the national football team will also help the federal government cut down expenses at this critical time in the country.
According to Odegbami, the manager who had worn green and white colours to play at both AFCON and FIFA World Cup tournaments for Nigeria, with coaching credentials, can help the Super Eagles in the next edition held in the North African country.
He said, “No matter what you suggest, in the end, there are so many factors, that come to play. I just want to follow up on your question. Definitely, we need to look at our technical content. How do we identify players that will represent us?
“We need a high calibre of coaches that will match our aspirations, that will take us to where we want to get to. If you want to win the World Cup, you cannot just go and get a coach from somewhere.
“We need coaches of high standards that will work with the psychology of players. We must hire someone who understands the culture and psychology of Nigerian football and of Nigerian footballers.”
The 71-year-old said Nigerians are smart in all areas of life including sport, and the government should concentrate on using the citizens who are qualified rather than inviting a European with no credentials.
“It is important that you get a Nigerian. We are one of the smartest people in the world, and the world acknowledges that. Yet, we have the enslavement of the minds of some people that we need a white person to come and coach you before you can win an ordinary sport of football. That is degrading and it is a mentality that I don’t buy,” Odegbami said.
“I will rather prefer one of our own. Someone who has been there, that has been at the world, that has played at every level to lead us, because these people understand us better to domesticate our football. That’s my own personal opinion. So those are the things I believe we need to do.”
Also, he stated that the Super Eagles handlers need to assemble good players who work as a team stressing that the team, and not the players win championships.
“We have the players, not truly really exceptional but we have good players. It is not the players that win championships, it is the team. We need a coach to mould them together, and blend them. We need to build a team and we need to build it quickly. We need to build it with our own.
“We are going through hard times in this country, we can’t afford to be paying a humongous sum of money to a foreign expert that does not have the qualifications. It is the mentality that I don’t agree with. If Mourinho comes here now, he has the records. He may not even succeed. But if he demands that kind of money he has earned it,” he added.
