Former Super Eagles midfielder, Slyvanus “Quicksilver’ Okpala, opens up on his interest in becoming the national team’s head coach; npflupdates.com reports.
The Super Eagles is currently without a coach following the exit of José Peseiro some few days ago. Peseiro bowed out of the national team’s job after he failed to sign a contract extension with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Also read: NFF Debunk Speculations That Austin Egueavoen Is Super Eagles’ New Coach
And Okpala who has won the Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) title twice, as a player in 1980, and as an assistant coach to late Stephen Keshi in 2013, has expressed his desire to replace Peseiro.
According to Okpala, Peseiro has tried his best, but the nation will have to move one, and get a capable hand for the job.
Based on his statements, if given an opportunity to coach the Super Eagles, he will perform wonders, as he’s got a good knowledge of modern day football.
What Sylvanus Okpala said about the Super Eagles job
“I mean, whenever Nigeria is going to the Nations Cup, we are going there to win, but it is not a must you must win. But we must present a team to win and not just participate.
“Our players are abroad based players, and most of them are playing against each other, either in the Italian league or so on, so they get the same training, so when we are going to the World Cup, we should be thinking about winning the World Cup. We might not qualify from the group stage, but we must go there with the mindset to win,” the 62-year-old was quoted by PUNCH Nigeria.
Speaking further, Mr Okpala noted that Nigeria must do all it can to qualify for the World Cup despite starting their qualifiers poorly.
“To qualify now for World Cup is going to be very difficult, difficult in the sense that we are in the same group with South Africa, so we must be very careful. and if Nigeria does not qualify for another World Cup, there will be a lot of crisis in Nigerian football,” he said.
Speaking about his knowledge of African football, and his ability to read games and make necessary adjustments, Okpala said;
“I’ve won the Nations Cup as a player, and I have won it as an assistant coach to Keshi, the record is there. It is not easy. It’s not by luck or mathematics, it’s by knowledge.
“The team we went to South Africa with, you can’t compare them with these boys. We went there with home-based boys, playing in the Nigerian league. it was only Mikel (Obi), even Mikel wasn’t a regular player in Chelsea then when he came with us. Then Amunike, and I think Musa too.
“We had only about only one year with the boys then, but this team has spent over 2 years together. We have players that can win the World Cup.”
“I’m very good at reading games, and that gives me an advantage too,” he added.
Recall, npflupdates.com reported that José Peseiro has been paid his outstanding salaries after leaving the Super Eagles.
