The board of Nigeria Football Federation has appointed Manu Garba as head coach of the Golden Eaglets.
Garba had, in the same role, led the Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2013 – Nigeria’s fourth triumph at that stage.
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Garba’s world-conquering squad in 2013 included Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success, Musa Mohammed, Chidiebere Nwakali and goalkeeper Dele Alampasu.
The squad, which finished as runners-up at the African U17 Championship in Morocco after a penalty shootout defeat by Cote d’Ivoire, defeated Mexico 6-1 in their opening game, drew 3-3 with Sweden and hammered Iraq 5-0. In the Round of 16, they ran Iran ragged 4-1, dispatched Uruguay 2-0 in the quarter-finals and trounced Sweden 3-0 in the semi-finals, before they dislodged Mexico by the same margin in the final to lift the trophy.
The former Nigeria international will now immediately resume the role and take charge of the team’s preparations for next month’s WAFU B U17 Championship, taking place in Ghana.
20 Comments
Glory Glory Hallelujah If you’re a Manu Garba fans then this is the greatest news of 2024 to Total football lovers. NFF don begin get sense at least, for me this calls for celebration!!!
@Chima, other colleagues, we should all take note of the date he is appointed to the time he will have his first match in Ghana which commence on 17th May, 2024. Please let us know where to direct our comment in case the team did not satisfy our expectations. This is why I will always say we have a lazy, incompetent NFF personnels.God helps Nigeria.
God bless you Olabode.
NFF are so lazy to the point that many of the officials don’t even know their roles.
By now I expect the team to be in camp.
Bro you’re right the timing is crazy. NFF is the same yesterday today and forever but hopefully the Garba we know will not disappoint. I will be following the progress of this team with so much expectation.
EFCC won’t see corruption in NFF but if na bobrisky or yahoo Boyz, them go show muscle! Just look at how long take them to appoint super Eagles coaches! No future plans for various national teams , bandit full that nff
@Daniel I don’t think Bobrisky or Fraud boys are good examples either. Government can not interfere with football that is why it’s easy for NFF to get away with a lot of Drama. But I believe the minister of sports can set up a task force to check mate the NFF mishandling of the team. This is the only way we can checkmate the NFF. But using Bobrisky or Fraud Boys who are bad influence to the society shouldn’t be a way to pass your message.
This NFF people are really mad. Appointing a coach for the u17 tesm less than a month to their competitive match?
The team isn’t even on ground yet. And someone will start hauling insults at the coach if the team failed. Are we cursed in this country ni?
Since the introduction MRI scan, Nigeria has been struggling to qualify for CAF and FIFA competitions. The last time we attended an u17 fifa competition was in 2019, if I’m not mistaken. Two generations of the u17 teams have wasted due to onvpetemce and curroptiom. In fact, as things stand now, no member of the 2017 and 2019 u17 teams are in the SEs. Whereas, it took the likes of Osimhen, Kelechi, Kanu, Babayaro and others just a year or two before breaking into the senior team. There are no natural replacements for the aging players in the current senior team from the ranks of the immediate past u17 teams. And this man Gusau will wake up tomorrow and say the nff is paying attention to grassroot development, when to even get visas for the u15 team is was a problem. Can they just bring Lulu back to head the Nigerian developmental programmes? Abi when will this fire brigade approach to raising teams gonna stop? What magic is Manu gonna perform when Ghana u17 team has been in camp for weeks, playing friendly matches? Or has CAF jettisoned the Zonal elimination approach for picking continental tickets? My heart bleeds for the state of our youth football under this Gusau. It’s so appauling. And anytime that does, the country’ football is gone.
@PapaFem,it’s worrying this trend of leaving preparations until the last minute.It started during Pinnick’s administration,it’s weird I must say,but the fans are quick to point fingers at the coach when results obviously are disappointing,because what the nff are doing is planning to fail.
Boss’s team to the last AAG had just a week of preparations,they couldn’t organise a friendly to test the players before our first game which we lost to Uganda.The fans took their anger out on Bosso,the poor man was left to go through all that condemnation because of the failures of the football authorities,who should be getting the sticks not Bosso!
Now manu Garba will be left to conduct a screening two weeks to the tournament yet you expect the coach to do wonders within a short period whereas other serious countries are rounding up with preparations,sometimes you wonder how these people in power think,yet the people who have voice like the Okochas,Kanu’s,Mutui etc,sports journalist all have kept mute over this trend of hasty preparations which has put our football at a disadvantage
Why always in ghana. Is there no other west Africa country that can host the tournament?
I don’t have anything against ghana but there . nothing stoping other countries from hosting the tournament.
I believe Nigeria will perform excellently if the coach pick the right guys. Though, I trust the coach unlike Bosso that took same set of guys to same age group tournament three years after.
You have a point here because always hosting in Ghana gives us disadvantage because of the rivalry that even when we are playing against other nations the Ghanaians will be against us. NFF and minister of sports are the ones who don’t want to spend money to host, as for the other Ecowas nations I don’t know what their problem is as well that Ghana always has to be host of every Wafu and female champions league regional qualifiers to their advantage. For now let us hope the emergence of Garba is the beginning of wisdom.
Garba can perform wonders. He did ithe and can do it again. The NFF has scored a goal here. He is the type who can make the best supporting coach for the Super Eagles considering his products in our recent team including our goalkeeper with the goal den gloves Nwabali.
Please note again that the next Super Eagles Coach will not be announced until a month to the match against South Africa on June 3rd 2024. The Federation always believe in fire brigade approach. They delay the appointment until a month putting the pressure and the blame on the coach. This has always been their system from one tenure to another. Please let wait on the date the new Super Eagles Coach will be announced to verify. God help Nigeria.
One month to scout for players and prepare them for the competition.
If Manu Garba can pull this off, he should be given a chieftaincy title.
Na wa for Naija.
He’s a great grassroot coach not that Ladan ‘tribal warlord’ Bosso. Congratulations Manu Garba, you sabi ball jare
Manu Garba has done really well for Nigeria when it comes to under age football.
Congrats to him.
NFF is deliberately trying to sabotage some coaches EXCEPT BOSSO. That guy has levels. Whether he fails or not, under 20 is his birthright. We know NFF never listens to reason.
Come to even think of it. Only our senior national team coaches are on monthly salaries. All other levels coaches are only paid on per match basis so I guess the era of lobbying has begun.
I hope Manu is not set up to fail so the position will go to another person to have their share of the…..
I’m extremely disappointed in this Gusau. I wish I had one suoer power, I’ll just throw those idiots out of that Glasshouse. Why are they even allowing politicians who came to football by accident to run the game in this country?
I so much value developmental programnes in football by everything in me. I’d rather have a failing u23 than a failed u17. If we just can produce three good u17 teams in three straight years who did so well by winning the u17 WC or gain international attention so much so that big clubs buy even 30% of the players, our future in the next 15-20 years is of secured. Replacing the old ones won’t be a challenge going. The SEs of today is replete with players from 2013 and 2015 u17 teams. Others are players born abroad and a few others from other sources like the u20s and academies scattered across the country
But the sane u17 hasn’t qualified for any FIFA competition since 2017. So where’s the building block for the SEs gonna come from? Are these people daft nit know this? If this u17 fails to make it again to the WC, it means 3 generations of the team have wasted I’m the last 5 years. Just a month to a competition, you’re still looking for the players he will use for the tournament. A month fa? And if Manu fails, you’ll fire him and bring another coach who will fail again and the vicious cycle continues. I see no future for these Eagles with the attitude of the nff towards grassroot football. Bit this isn’t what he promised us not at all.
There is a piece of good news in all this though: FIFA is making under 17 world cup happen every year from next year 2025 so even if NFF in their myopic nature are lackadaisical in getting talent pool for the senior national teams, FIFA is forcing us nay Africa to do so. The shame will be on glasshouse when hitherto smaller African nations maximize this goldmine of opportunities and leave Nigeria behind.
FIFA is doing this to make some country catch up with Nigeria at the medals table if this news is true because I don’t understand why a World Cup will be held every year. It looses its value abi na league cup ni???
The bottomline is that no one should come here and blame the coach if he fail to qualify. We all can see how things are unfolding