2019 Failure: Peter Rufai Wants NFF To Help Nigerian Coaches

Ex international, Peter Rufai has called on the President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick to organize refresher courses for coaches in the Nigerian League in a bid to broaden and refreshen the scope of their knowledge for future national assignments.

Rufai stated this following the failure of Flying Eagles, Super Falcons, Dream Team, Home-Based Super Eagles and the Golden Eaglets at the major tournaments they competed in.

Recall that the Flying Eagles crashed out in the round of 16 of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand after losing 1-0 to Germany.

Nigeria also performed unimpressively at the 2019 West African Football Union Cup of Nations as the Super Eagles Team B could not win a single game in Senegal.

The home-based Super Eagles could not qualify for the African Nations Championship after losing to Togo by 4 goals to 1 in Lome, before managing a 2-0 win in the return leg in Lagos.

Despite being Africa’s most successful women’s football team, our senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, won’t be competing in 2020 Olympics, after losing to less fancied Cote d’Ivoire on away goals rule in the African zone qualifying series.

Then came the turn of the nation’s U-23 team, the Dream Team, which also crashed out of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations that would have given Nigeria the Olympic ticket if the team had finished among the top three teams out of the eight countries that participated.

Reacting to this development, the former Deportivo La Coruña, who was a key member of the Super Eagles squad that lifted the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, told Soccernet.ng that the Technical Department of the NFF still has lots of work to render to help coaches in the domestic scene.

“I feel concern with the poor performance of our national teams in the various competitions they competed for in 2019. Except for the Super Eagles that appear to be doing well, the rest of the teams such as the Flying Eagles, Super Falcons, Dream Team and Home-Based Super Eagles have failed to live up to expectations,” Rufai told Soccernet.ng

“To some extent, we may want to blame some of the coaches that were saddled with the responsibilities, but then, football has gone beyond just what we see in the past.

“The truth is, the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) must ensure they organize a refresher course in Nigeria to broaden the scope of knowledge of these coaches. They must be exposed to some fresh techniques and tactics that will prepare them for future assignments.

Rufai earned 65 caps for Nigeria and represented the nation at two FIFA World Cups.