Former coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh has expressed the desire to return to the position he vacated unceremoniously more than five years ago if the atmosphere was right.
Speaking during a live sports programme on national television, monitored in Lagos, Oliseh said he was prepared to take up the position if he was convinced of the sincerity of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials.
The erstwhile player who now resides in Belgium also spoke on a book he wrote, “Audacity To Refuse”, where he chronicled his involvement in the national team as well as some undercurrents that took place during his stay in the team.
According to him, the book traces his untold insider story from being a young footballer in Nigeria to starring in some of Europe’s greatest clubs. This book shares Oliseh’s rise to worldwide fame while dealing with innumerable trials and tribulations.
“This is the story of a treasured sports icon who journeyed from a childhood of poverty to winning the Olympic gold medal for his fatherland and multiple other trophies for his clubs and country”.
Oliseh resigned as Head Coach of the Nigerian football national team in February 2016, just over seven months after he was appointed.
Oliseh, who announced his resignation on Twitter, said he took the decision due to the inability of the Nigeria NFF to honour the terms of his contract.
“Due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages, benefits to my players, assistant coaches, and myself, I resign as Super Eagles Chief Coach,” he tweeted.
In a preceding tweet before announcing his resignation, Oliseh thanked Nigerians for the opportunity to serve as coach of the national team
“I feel fortunate, blessed, and eternally grateful for having the honour to play, captain, and coach this great nation of ours, Nigeria.”
Oliseh, whose appointment was made with much fanfare by the NFF, soon started having problems with the executives of the federation over remuneration, match tactics, and results.
His complaint about being owed was not well received by the NFF, which rather threatened to sanction him. He also had challenges managing the players. An altercation between the coach and the team’s former captain and the country’s most-capped goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, led to the goalie’s premature resignation from the team in October 2015.
Apparently, the last straw for Oliseh was the woeful outing of the Super Eagles at the CHAN competition in Rwanda, where the team was eliminated in the first round.
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