A FORMER president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick says the Super Eagles will get a substantive head coach “any moment from now”.
Pinnick, a FIFA Council member, gave the hint on Friday.
“Any moment from now, I am sure they would be announcing a coach, an enterprising coach at that,” he said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sports Tonight monitored by our correspondent.
The Super Eagles have been without a coach since the departure of George Finidi in June 2024 after Jose Peseiro left the coach following the three-time African champions second-place finish at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Augustine Eguavoen has since then served in an interim capacity as the Super Eagles gaffer, leading Nigeria to a place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Despite his feat, the NFF is poised to hire a new coach for Nigeria ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers which resume later in the year.
The Super Eagles are in the fifth position in Group C of the African qualification series for the World Cup set to be held in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. They are winless in four games, managing a meager three points, four less than the leaders of the lot Rwanda.
Pinnick, is, however, hopeful of the Super Eagles’ chances of qualifying for the quadrennial tournament.
“We believe we would still qualify by God’s grace,” he said.
“I speak to the president [of the NFF] every other day and I know he is very religious about qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup. It is going to be a tough call. I don’t want to raise the hopes of any Nigerian that we would qualify. But we would try our human extreme. When I say human extreme, on a scale of 1-10, we would get to that 10 and see if we can make it happen. We believe it is divine.”
Since making their debut at the 1994 World Cup, the Super Eagles have never failed to qualify for the football showpiece. They missed the last edition in Qatar after losing on the away goal rule to Ghana in the playoffs. Nigeria also did not the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
