Bonfrere
Jo, known for leading Nigeria to the Atlanta'96 Olympics gold medal as
well as the 2000 African Nations Cup final has stated he knows how to
revive the fortunes of the Super Eagles if he's handed the coaching role
on a permanent basis. Sunday Oliseh shockingly resigned from his
position as head coach two weeks ago and Samson Siasia alongside a team
of ex-internationals has been put in temporary charge of the Super
Eagles.
But Bonfrere, brought to the country by Dutchman Clemens Westerhof says most coaches that have coached Nigeria don't know how to handle the job hence their failure rate, saying only Stephen Keshi could handle the pressure of the Super Eagles job.
''It
is difficult for the local coaches to coach Super Eagles because they
don't have experience in international football outside Africa. They
have their coaching experience from inside Nigeria, not outside, so it
is very difficult for the local coaches to handle teams successfully. In
Africa, if you have local coaches in your teams, it's likely there's
going to be no result, but with foreign coaches, you have more chances
of getting success.''
But Bonfrere, brought to the country by Dutchman Clemens Westerhof says most coaches that have coached Nigeria don't know how to handle the job hence their failure rate, saying only Stephen Keshi could handle the pressure of the Super Eagles job.
I
know Nigeria very well; I worked there for a long time to understand
the players' and the officials' thought processes. I understand that
Nigerian players like to play football and that was why I worked very
well with the players. If you don't understand the players, their
mentality, then it will be very difficult for any coach to work with
them and get the best from them.'' He said to CompleteSportsNigeria.
''Your
local coaches don't always succeed because you have too many people who
put pressure on them and again international football is beyond the
local coach.''
I'm
interested of course (in the job), because I enjoyed working in
Nigeria. it's because you have a whole lot of good players with
technique, who love to work very hard and always want to play. The most
important thing, as a foreign coach, I have to teach the players how to
play good football. Certainly, I'm interested (in coming back to Nigeria
as Super Eagles coach). Of course, I would like to go with Nigeria to
the African Cup of Nations; I would like to go with the Super Eagles to
the World Cup in Russia 2018.
Before
you work at that level (of being a coach) and succeed you must first of
all have the experience. Oliseh did not have that, so it was going to
be very difficult.
''It
is the duty of the coach to build a strong squad, identify those he
needs to get the job done and bring them along. In this case, the
players and his backroom staff or his assistants. What he thinks will
give him result is what he would like to do. The important thing is the
success of the team and Nigeria and not only that of the coach.''
''Nigeria
have won the Nations Cup three times, one by Keshi. Who won the other
two, Nigerian coaches or foreign? My position is foreign coaches are
better in position to win than local coaches.''
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