Super Eagles boss Chelle picks two Nigerian coaches for U23 Olympics job

Eric Chelle has started building his Nigeria Under-23 coaching team by appointing Bright Osehai Ozebagbe and Deniran Ortega as his assistants, Soccernet.ng reports.

Chelle, who also coaches the Super Eagles, is now in charge of the Olympic Eagles as Nigeria prepare for the qualifying race for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The appointments were reported by Nigerian journalist Mike the Pundit, who cited information from the National Sports Commission.

The move comes after Nigeria missed the last two men's Olympic football tournaments. The country failed to qualify for Tokyo 2020 and then suffered another setback in the race for Paris 2024.

The latest failure came in March 2023. Nigeria drew 0-0 with Guinea in Abuja before losing 2-0 in Rabat. Algassime Bah scored in the 61st minute before Alseny Soumah added a second in the 73rd minute. The result knocked Nigeria out of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations and ended their Olympic hopes.

Nigeria last played in the men's Olympic football tournament at Rio 2016, where the team won bronze. The country also won gold at Atlanta 1996 and silver at Beijing 2008, making the recent absence a sharp fall from its strong Olympic record.

Chelle bags 2 coaches with different experience

Ozebagbe brings club coaching experience from Nigeria. He previously worked with Union Bank, Staruf FC Lagos, Pepsi Academy and Barcelona Academy Lagos. He was also head coach of Bulmaro FC during the 2020-21 season.

In October 2022, Ikorodu City appointed Ozebagbe as chief coach alongside Sodiq Dabiri. The club said he held a CAF C licence and had worked as an elite coach and coordinator at Barcelona Academy Lagos.

Ortega brings a different background. He has worked in Scotland and Nigeria and has been part of the Flying Eagles coaching staff. In May 2026, the Nigeria Football Federation confirmed him as first assistant to Abdu Maikaba with the U20 team.

His coaching career also includes work with Edinburgh City, where he was part of a staff that won the Lowland League title in 2014-15 and 2015-16 before the club moved into the Scottish Professional Football League. He later joined Enyimba as an assistant coach in 2017.

In Ozebagbe and Ortega, Chelle will work with two of Nigeria's most promising young coaches boasting strong profiles. The Super Eagles coach is also expected to add a foreign scout and another foreign assistant to the U23 setup.

The Olympic Eagles are expected to begin camp in Abuja soon, with qualifiers scheduled to start in November 2026. Nigeria will face either DR Congo or Mauritania. Chelle's first task is to rebuild a team capable of ending Nigeria's eight-year wait for men's Olympic football and earning a place at Los Angeles 2028.