Tom Saintfiet has said that he is convinced that he has the quality to “take Nigeria to Russia” where the 2018 edition of the FIFA World Cup will hold.
Nigeria have been drawn in a difficult qualification group alongside Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia which Saintfiet has described as “a small World Cup” of its own.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has had a checkered past months with keeping hold of coaches for its men’s national team, the Super Eagles, which have seen Stephen Keshi (now late), Sunday Oliseh and Samson Siasia take charge of the failed 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. Currently, Salisu Yusuf is saddled with the job of head coach pending when a substantive manager is named.
Even Frenchman, Paul Le Guen, who was recommended by the NFF technical committee for the job, has turned down Nigeria’s offer but one of the three shortlists, Tom Saintfiet, has put up his hand saying he is the man for the job.
“I am convinced in my qualities and in myself as a coach. I can take Nigeria to Russia. I am convinced about the current crop of players. I first admired Nigeria in 1994 when Westerhof and since then I have followed the game in Nigeria. Remember I was appointed technical director of the (Nigeria) football federation in 2012 but the minister of sports turned it back after a few weeks,” Saintfiet said from Dhaka in Bangladesh.
