Nigeria sack Samson Siasia

Samson Siasia

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has fired national coach Samson Siasia after the Super Eagles failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

The tournament will take place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea next January.

At the end of the day Siasia spent less than a year in the job. Siasia had seemed to have breathed new life into the Super Eagles with the team producing some eye-catching attacking play after their dour 2010 World Cup campaign. But in the eyes of the NFF, Siasia failed when it mattered most. Earlier this month Nigeria drew 2-2 with Guinea in Abuja in the final round of Afcon qualifying, a result which meant Guinea snatched the group’s 2012 Afcon ticket. 

Siasia’s time as coach was also noted for a couple of high-profile fallouts with star players Peter Odemwingie, Vincent Enyeama and John Mikel Obi, as he tried to instil discipline in his team.

It is not yet known who will replace Siasia as coach of the Super Eagles. But former captains Stephen Keshi and Sunday Oliseh have been tipped for the job while there are also rumours the NFF will one again opt for a foreign coach from Europe.