NFF replace manager Sunday Oliseh with Samson Siasia

Nigeria have moved quickly to replace Sunday Oliseh by appointing former coach Samson Siasia on an interim basis.

Siasia will take charge of the two African Nations Cup qualifying games against Egypt in March.

He will be assisted by Nigeria’s Under-17 World Cup-winning coach Emmanuel Amuneke and the duo of Alloy Agu and Salisu Yusuf, who were Oliseh’s assistants. Yusuf also previously worked as Siasia’s assistant when the former striker was Nigeria coach.

Oliseh resigned in the early hours of Friday morning, citing contract violations by the NFF.

Siasia served as Nigeria coach between December 2010 and October 2011, before his contract was terminated following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Amuneke led the Nigeria U17 boys to a fifth FIFA World Cup title in Chile last year and was hailed for his excellent comportment and maturity, as well as the tremendous skills of his players.

Salisu Yusuf and Alloy Agu were in the immediate past crew led by Oliseh and will serve as the bridge with the new team as Nigeria gets set for a double-header against Egypt in March.

Both Siasia and Amuneke come to the job with excellent results from national coaching stints.

Siasia steered the Nigeria under-20 team to the African title in 2005 and led the team to runner-up spot at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands the same year.

He also led the under-U23 team to silver medal in the men’s football tournament of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and two months ago, led the team to win the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal, in the process qualifying the team to this year’s Olympics.

Amuneke, who has a UEFA Pro licence, was assistant to Manu Garba when the Nigeria U17 squad won a fourth FIFA World Cup title in 2013, and then headed the crew that successfully defended the trophy last year.

Both men scored as Nigeria achieved an impressive debut at the FIFA World Cup in the United States in 1994. Amuneke scored against Bulgaria and Italy and Siasia scored against Argentina.

Amuneke also scored the two goals as Nigeria edged Zambia to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time on away soil in Tunis in 1994, and also scored the winner as Nigeria defeated Argentina to win Africa’s first Olympics football gold in the U.S. two years later.