NFF appoints Oliseh as Super Eagles coach

Former national team captain Sunday Oliseh has been appointed coach of Nigeria, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said on Wednesday.

The new coach said that the doing the job will be “an honour”.

“We are not doing Nigeria any favour.

“My coming to coach the senior team is to serve our fatherland, we have not come to fight war.”

Oliseh takes over from sacked Stephen Keshi and was unveiled in Abuja after impressing NFF bosses with his plans for the team.

“On Tuesday evening, Oliseh and his assistants had a robust 90-minute meeting with the NFF Technical and Development Committee, headed by Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, where he unfolded his plans for the Super Eagles,” the NFF said in a statement.

“After the meeting, a meeting of the NFF Executive Committee received the report of the Technical and Development Committee, and unanimously adopted the recommendation to hire Oliseh as the new Super Eagles’ Head Coach.”

The 40-year-old’s first assignment will be in the away African Nations Cup qualifier in Tanzania in September.

Nigeria won their opening match of the pool phase 2-0 at home to Chad, but Keshi was sacked soon after by the NFF for “lacking commitment” after it was alleged he applied for the vacant Ivory Coast head coach role, something he denied.

Oliseh, a former defensive midfielder who played at Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and briefly Juventus, featured for the national team between 1993 and 2002.

He won the Nations Cup as a player in 1994 and Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996.

He had fiery reputation as a player, missing the 2002 World Cup for disciplinary reasons and was later sacked by Dortmund for allegedly punching a team-mate Vahid Hashemian during a loan spell at VfL Bochum.

His coaching career to date has been limited to the lower leagues in Belgium, though he does hold a UEFA Pro Licence.