Emmanuel Amuneke named new coach of the Super Eagles
The Super Eagles have a new coach! With Emmanuel Amuneke on the sidelines, the Nigerian team hopes to get back on track in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
It really was not a good Africa Cup for the Super Eagles. They started the tournament with high expectations. They had a team full of superstars but were eliminated in the round of 16 against the eventual finalists from Egypt.
After the late decision to sack German coach Gernot Rohr at the end of 2021, Augustine Eguavoen took over for the tournament! But after the bitter defeat, those in charge of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) around General Secretary Dr Mohammed Sanusi had no other choice: a new coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, was hired.
Big match against Ghana on the 24th of March
The preparation for the two decisive qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar on 24 and 27 March against Ghana will thus be taken over by a national football hero. Amuneke knows how to lead Nigeria to success – at least that was the case as a player. Amuneke’s brace in the 1994 Africa Cup final, which gave the Super Eagles the decisive tournament win, is still remembered today.
As a player, Amuneke also made a name for himself in Europe. The striker particularly flourished at Sporting Lisbon. Later he moved to FC Barcelona for a very high transfer fee at the time! During his period at Barca, he played alongside fellow Nigerian Samuel Okunowo. They were both parts of a side with the former best players in the world Luis Figo and Rivaldo! Other teammates were Mauricio Pellegrino, Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola and Frank De Boer – all of them are successful coaches nowadays. His coach was Louis Van Gaal with his assistant coach Jose Mourinho at the time. As a player, Amuneke did not succeed at Barcelona. But he will now bring the experience he gained there to the Super Eagles.
Amuneke’s big task to form a well-functioning team
As a coach, Amuneke has already done a lot for youth development in Nigeria. Many talents have already emerged from his Emmanuel Amuneke Football Academy. And for many years he was the coach of the Nigerian Sub17. Between 2018 and 2019, Amuneke was already the national coach of Tanzania.
Amuneke’s full attention is on the task of finally forming a functioning unit from the great players in his team. They still have a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup!
