Amuneke rejects NFF’s offer to coach Flying Eagles

FIFA under-17 world  cup winning coach, Emmanuel Amunike has turned down Nigeria Football Federation offers to continue with the Golden Eaglets and also assist Manu Garba with the Flying Eagles job.

 Amunike, was reacting to statements credited to Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick who stated that the former Super Eagles winger will now have a double task.

But Amunike said since no contract has been discussed with him on the job offer he cannot make himself available.

“No doubt coaching the national team is something I consider a huge privilege and when you even get to win honors with the national team, I think there are very few experiences that can beat that, “ said Amuneke to footballive.ng.

“However, I don’t subscribe to certain situations and certainly I don’t think announcing the appointment of a coach on air without a meeting with the party involved or a written contract is not how I’ll choose to work.”

Amunike led the Eaglets to the successful defence of the FIFA under-17 World Cup in Chile. He was Garba’s assistant when the Eaglets won the 2013 tournament in the UAE. Garba was upgraded to the Flying Eagles, but he failed to lift the team at the FIFA under-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Speaking further, the former Barcelona player stated that the national team has lost its verve and Nigerian fans must come to terms with it.

‘ We have lost that glamour but the fans still think we are the same old side that can defeat teams heavily whether home or away but we are not.’

‘ There’s a lot we need to do. We can’t rely on just individual talents to build a national philosophy.’
There’s the need to understand and teach players the theoretical aspect of the game.’

Culled from Vanguard