Amokachi wants to coach Super Eagles and ‘take them to a level they’ve never been’

Daniel Amokachi, former Super Eagles assistant coach, has revealed that his major ambition is to become coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Amokachi, who was assistant coach to the likes of Lars Lagerback and Stephen Keshi, said he hopes to someday get the top job.

“I know that one day I’ll be the head coach of the Nigeria national team and I will take Nigerian football to a level nobody has taken them to before,” he told TheGuardian UK.

“The ability of player we have these days … any coach given this job is lucky. In my head, I know how we’d play and the blueprint is ready to go.

“With the talent there now, we should be surpassing my generation, the players from the 1990s. It’s sad, because people still refer back 20 years without looking at what we’ve got today, but the quality is second to none.”

Amokachi lamented how he has been bypassed for the job, in favour of some of his team mates such as Stephen Keshi, Samson Siasia and Sunday Oliseh, saying: “They seem to have given everybody except me an opportunity, but by God’s grace, it will happen.”

Amokachi had a long spell as assistant manager of the national team, helping the late Keshi win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. He also coached a local club, Ifeanyi Ubah, winning six games out of nine before parting ways because “to survive back home in Africa you have to be someone who kisses assess, and I’m not one of those”.

He won the African Cup of Nations as a player and scored two goals at the FIFA World Cup at USA 1994, and was a key member of the “Dream Team” that won the Olympic Games at Atlanta 1996. He was also assistant coach to Lars Lagerback at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The former Everton of England striker is now the chief coach of JS Hercules in Finland. Of his current assignment, he said: “I’m 44 this year and I’m still learning, tactically and managerially.

“For me, to be head coach here is incredible, a grace from heaven. You have to start somewhere to get somewhere, and Africans just don’t get these opportunities.”