President of the Nigeria football Federation Amaju Pinnick said AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho was consulted in their search for a new coach for the Super Eagles according to Completesports.com.
The NFF are in search for a new head coach for the three-time African champions following the sacking of Gernot Rohr.
Former Super Eagles player Austine Eguavoen has been placed in temporary charge of the team pending the appointment of a substantive head coach.
Pinnick stated that the NFF consulted Mourinho, who is one of the most successful coaches in football in their bid to get a top-class head coach for the Super Eagles.
“The emphasis on the new coach is discipline. We will look at his antecedents on discipline,” Pinnick said on Wednesday.
“Secondly, we will also look at how hungry he is to win trophies because if they are hungry it supersedes so many things and if he wants to win he will instil discipline. We will look at all these things but I cannot make a pronouncement emphatically because I will be undermining my executive committee.
“So, until my executive committee comes out within the next week or so to say this is the name because the technical committee has to bring their presentation to the executive committee. It is going to be a seamless movement to the current team headed by Eguavoen.
“But we have spoken to three top coaches and Peseiro, whose name has been going around, is one of the coaches and I can tell you he is a top coach.”
He also added that, “We also talked to Mladen (Krstajic) but after talking to him he got a job with a top club in Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv. You can see these are coaches that are hungry and ready to take Nigeria as a home; they are people that we know are ready to face the challenge from the 200 million Nigerians.
“They are coaches who the players cannot be bigger than and I believe we are doing everything we can and that’s why we interface with the ministry on every level.
“Of course Mourinho, I am not going to tell you we didn’t talk to Mourinho because we did and the (sports) minister also talked to Mourinho and there is nothing wrong with it.”
Meanwhile, sportscliffs.com reported that CAF president Patrice Motsepe confirms that the AFCON will go ahead as planned despite the threat of COVID19.
The confirmation was made in a meeting between Motsepe and Cameroon president Paul Biya after concerns had been expressed over a lack of organisation for the 24-team tournament, incomplete building work and the threat of coronavirus outbreaks due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
“I’m going to be here on Jan. 7 and I’m coming to watch football,” Motsepe told reporters. “I’m coming to watch on Jan. 9 [the opening match between] Cameroon against Burkina Faso. I’ll also be around to see when the trophy is handed over.”
Clubs in Europe, where most of the players in the tournament play regularly, are concerned over the healthcare arrangements due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Motsepe previously confirmed strict testing measures for players and staff, and added on Tuesday that spectators would need to show proof of negative PCR tests.
“We must always identify problems and challenges, and not shy away from them. We must have the confidence and the belief that we can overcome them,” he said.
“Nobody will be allowed into the stadium without a (negative) PCR test. We will have to protect the fans that are there. Of course, there will be concerns about fake tests going around, but we are dealing with those issues.
“We have to have confidence and belief in ourselves as Africans. And we have to have confidence and belief that we can host a very successful Nations Cup in Cameroon.”
