Former Super Eagles stars Samson Siasia and Daniel Amokachi have applied for the vacant Nigeria Under-23 coaching position as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) begins the search for a new handler for the Olympic Eagles.
The federation recently opened applications for the post as part of efforts to rebuild the team ahead of the qualifiers for the next Olympic Games.
Siasia and Amokachi are both familiar faces in the role, having managed the country’s U-23 side at different times in the past. Siasia is widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s most successful youth team coaches.
The former striker guided the Olympic Eagles to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Nigeria lost to Argentina in the final. He also led the team to a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics despite several off-field problems during the competition.
Apart from the U-23 team, Siasia also handled the Super Eagles and Flying Eagles, where he was known for helping young players grow into senior internationals. Amokachi, another respected former international, also has experience with the Olympic team and has served in different coaching roles with the Super Eagles.
He was part of the technical crew under former Eagles coach Finidi George. As a player, Amokachi was a key member of the Nigeria side that won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Nigeria’s greatest football achievement on the world stage.
The position became vacant after the exit of Salisu Yusuf, with the NFF now looking for a coach who can return the team to winning ways and secure qualification for the next Games. Nigeria failed to qualify for the men’s football event at the last Olympics, putting more pressure on the federation to appoint an experienced coach.
