Again, NFF re-appoints Bosso, Yusuf as national coaches despite stakeholders’ objection

Reappointed Flying Eagles Coach, Ladan Bosso </p> <p>

Two years ago, Coach Ladan Bosso failed to qualify Nigeria’s U-20 team, the Flying Eagles, for the Africa and FIFA U-20 World Cup, as his team failed at the U-20 WAFU Cup in Benin Republic.

Against all expectations, the Flying Eagles, who used to be the pride of Africa at the world level, were reduced to baby chickens in Cotonou, finishing with just one point from two games in the group stages, following a 1-1 with Cote d’Ivoire and 0-1 defeat by Ghana.

The failure at the WAFU Cup stopped the Flying Eagles from participating in the 2021 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, which was the final qualifier for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

After the competition, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) apologised to Nigerians for embarrassing the nation with a promise to strengthen the team’s technical crew ahead of future challenges.

Before then, the same Ladan Bosso had failed with the Flying Eagles at the FIFA U-20 World Youth Championship in Canada, where Nigeria lost to Chile in the quarterfinal stage. That was in 2007.

Rather than drop Bosso or send him on refresher courses to upgrade his knowledge of the game, the NFF gave him a pat on the back and allowed him to continue on the job for two more years. He was later dismissed when he led the Flying Eagles to finish third at the African Youth Championship in Rwanda in 2009.

It took public complaints over his team’s lacklustre display before the NFF reluctantly dropped Bosso. Many football-loving Nigerians were shocked, yesterday, when the NFF rolled out names of coaches for the national teams, and again, Bosso returned as Head Coach of the U-20 team. He will work with former U-17 Head Coach, Fatai Amao (Assistant Coach); Oladuni Oyekale