Nigeria boss Amodu sacked

Nigeria boss Amodu sacked
(AFP) Friday 5 February 2010

Nigeria football bosses on Friday announced the sacking of coach Shaibu Amodu, publishing a short-list of coaches they hope will lead the 'Super Eagles' through the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

Amodu had been under pressure even before Nigeria's disappointing third-place finish at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which ended with Egypt's third consecutive victory last week.

The Nigeria Football Federation's short-list is topped by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal, Frenchman Bruno Metsu, former Ghana coach Ratomir Djukovic and former England caretaker coach Peter Taylor.

Hiddink is currently the coach of the Russian national team, Metsu led Senegal to the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Djukovic guided Ghana to the 2006 finals in Germany.

According to an official statement after the marathon meeting, the NFF technical committee will recommend one of three of these coaches for immediate employment before the end of this month.

Amodu and his assistants will now train Nigeria's second team for the 2011 Championship of African Nations (CHAN), meant for African players featuring in their respective domestic leagues.

In November, Amodu qualified the Super Eagles for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be staged in South Africa in June. However, the performance of the team under Amodu, who also qualified the team to the 2002 finals in Korea/Japan, was widely criticised by the press and the public.