Former Super Eagles assistant coach, Usman Abdallah, has made a bold statement claiming that no Nigerian coach is qualified to manage the country’s senior men’s national team. His comments come in the wake of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) considering hiring a foreign coach following Finidi George’s resignation last month.
Since its inception, the Super Eagles have been managed by 27 coaches, of which 10 were Nigerian. Finidi George, the last Nigerian to hold the position, resigned in June, leaving the team without a head coach. His resignation followed the NFF’s announcement that they intended to appoint a foreign technical adviser for the team.
This decision was driven by widespread dissatisfaction with the team’s recent performances, including a surprising defeat to Benin Republic in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. As the NFF searches for a new coach, reports suggest that they have approached Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro for a possible return and are also considering Frenchman Hervé Renard. Abdallah, who previously served as an assistant under Peseiro, remains unperturbed by the potential backlash his comments might provoke.
“It doesn’t bother me whether the NFF is considering bringing Jose Peseiro back or if they want to hire Hervé Renard as the Eagles coach as long as they can afford to pay their salaries,” Abdallah stated. “The issue is, I have heard people say they don’t want us to spend money on the foreign coach but show me a coach qualified for the Eagles job who is a Nigerian whether home or abroad. The fact is we don’t have it.”
He added, “The only person we have is Salisu Yusuf, who a lot of people don’t want because of what happened in the past, but I don’t want to argue about that. Nigerian coaches have always been serving as assistants, and none of us can argue that we were better than those we’ve worked with.”
However, Abdallah criticized the NFF for allowing foreign coaches to bring their assistants. “Appointing Peseiro or whoever is no issue, but why allow them to come with their assistants when some of us have always been named? How do we tap from their experience and grow to become national team coaches? This is the mistake the federation has always made, and they need to correct that.”
The NFF aims to resolve the coaching situation promptly as Nigeria hopes to revive their World Cup qualifying campaign after a poor start, which saw them earn just three points from a possible 12, leaving them fifth in their six-team qualifying group.
