Who will blink first? – NFF want Finidi, Sports Minister backs Amuneke

In the red corner is the NFF and Finidi George, while in the blue corner you have the Sports Minister and Emmanuel Amuneke.

That is the big fight over who will be the next coach of the Super Eagles.

The NFF through their technical committee were heading towards appointing Domenec Torrent, who comes highly recommended as the longtime right hand man of Manchester City boss Pep Gaurdiola, to lead the Super Eagles until things went south.

First, they could not reach an agreement with Torrent over his salary and then the Sports Minister John Enoh made it clear to them they should look inwards and think local content.

The NFF committee has since redone its homework and has now come up with a new wish list headed by Finidi George with Emmanuel Amuneke and Daniel Amokachi as options in descending order.

They back Finidi for continuity – Finidi was assistant to Peseiro when the team got to the AFCON final in February and he was also in charge in an interim capacity for the friendlies against Ghana and Mali in March.

The former Ajax Amsterdam winger is calm, unassuming, a gentleman, who the NFF will be happy to work with.

Sports Minister Enoh, a former university lecturer and politician, in his own pitch to the NFF chieftains, asked for a role for Emmanuel Amuneke.

He spoke of pressures in support of the ex-Barcelona winger, who himself has reached out to the Minister expressing his interest in the Super Eagles post.

Is this interference or ministerial oversight function?  

Amuneke has all the relevant coaching badges including the UEFA Pro license and he has dirtied his hands across Africa, from Sudan to Tanzania and Zambia, even if with limited success.

However, his working relationship with the NFF has not been without its problems.

He could not stop a players’ mutiny that shamelessly cost Nigeria to miss out on the 2017 U20 AFCON.

Amuneke was also imposed on Augustine Eguavoen by another Sports Minister prior to the 2022 World Cup playoff against arch-rivals Ghana and Nigeria failed to qualify for Qatar 2022.

So, who will in the coming days be named the new coach of the Super Eagles – Finidi or Amuneke?

And can these two wingers from Nigeria’s Golden Generation truly work together and if yes, who will be the boss?

Many powerful men armed with their big egos are dug into this fight.

At the end of this epic fight, we only hope Nigeria football be the winner.