Eagles to get new coach within next two weeks, says sports minister

John Enoh, minister of sports development, says the new head coach of the Super Eagles will be announced “in the next one or two weeks”.

The minister spoke in a chat with Channels TV on Thursday.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to announce a permanent replacement for Jose Peseiro since his exit as the Eagles head coach in February.

The federation had called for public applications from interested and qualified candidates to fill the role, but little has been let out since then.

The Eagles are scheduled to face South Africa and the Benin Republic in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June, and there has been increased clamour for urgency in the selection process of the team’s head coach.

Speaking on the situation, Enoh said the NFF is “conscious and mindful” of the forthcoming games and assured Nigerians that a permanent replacement for Peseiro will be named before then.

“We’ve had a skay start to our World Cup qualification campaign. There is a lot of mileage to cover. We did not go for the last World Cup, and we cannot afford not to go for the next,” the minister said.

“The first responsibility of getting a coach lies with the NFF. I have been in touch with the NFF. Nigerians did not expect that it would take this long to find the next Super Eagle coach, but the NFF is conscious and mindful that the World Cup qualifiers are coming up in June.

“What I can assure you is that in the next one or two weeks, at the most, the senior national team will have a coach.”

Finidi George was the Eagles’ interim head coach for two international friendlies against Ghana and Mali in March.

Finidi led the Eagles to a 2-1 victory over Ghana in his first game at the helm but lost 2-0 to Mali in the second game.