The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday in Abuja explained why it switched the positions of Emmanuel Amuneke and Manu Garba at the national teams.
The NFF on Wednesday said it had endorsed the recommendations of its Technical and Development Committee in appointing Amuneke, as Flying Eagles’ Head Coach.
The Federation’s Executive Committee also recommended the return of Garba to the Golden Eaglets from the Flying Eagles.
Garba had led the Eaglets to the FIFA U-17 World Cup title in UAE in 2013, before being upgraded to the Flying Eagles in 2014.
Chris Green, Chairman, NFF Technical Committee, said the football programme in the country provided that successful coaches should graduate with their teams.
“There is this plan we started with Manu Garba and it paid off when he won the under-17 championship in 2013 at UAE. We felt that he should be left there.
“We decided that he should graduate with the players because two years down the line, they will no more play at the under-17 level. They should be in the under-20.
“It won’t be right to get another coach for the under-20 team, whereas we have the under-17 coach, who must have graduated. So, we said Garba should just move up.
“Now, the same situation applied in the case of Amuneke. He coached and won the under-17 and has been graduated together with his team to face new challenges at the under-20.
“If Amuneke does well at the under-20 and delivers the World Cup to us, everybody in Nigeria will clamour for him to take over at the under-23 or Super Eagles. It leaves us with no option,’’ Green said.
He said the plan would also ensure that Golden Eaglets’ players graduate to the senior national team the way it is obtainable in other countries.
“We are talking about continuity and everybody has been saying that when players appear at the under-17 level and do very well, there is need for the players to feature at the highest level.
“Unfortunately, we don’t find these players featuring as a group up to the Super Eagles level. Today, nobody can talk about Chrisantus Macaulay and others. These players won the under-17 championship in South Korea in 2007.
“But, look at the Spanish national team and the way it evolved. It is the same cadet players who won the World Cup and it is because they were brought up together. So, it’s all about planning,’’ the NFF executive committee member said.
