NFF spreads its net in the search of new Super Eagles coach adding Herve Renard to the shortlist

NIGERIAN Football Federation (NFF) officials are believed to have spread the search for a new Super Eagles coach to include Frenchman Herve Renard given his pedigree on the African continent and his penchant for success.

Renard, 55, who was Saudi Arabia's manager at the last World Cup, is the current manager of the France women's national team. He has previously managed Zambia, with whom he won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and he also won the competition in 2015 with the Ivory Coast, becoming the first coach to win two Africa Cup of Nations with different teams.

In addition, he coached Morocco at the 2018 World Cup and it is believed that the Moroccans are among the teams current seeking his services, as are Poland, South Korea and Cameroon. Now, the NFF are believed to have entered the fray too, as they are looking for a new coach to replace Jose Peseiro, who left after the last African Cup of Nations.

Since then, former international Finidi George, who served as Mr Peseiro’s assistant, handled the team in an interim capacity for Nigeria’s two recent friendly games against Ghana and Mali last week. Finidi alongside Emmanuel Amunike, Michael Nsien, and Ndubuisi Egbo are some of the candidates who have applied for the Super Eagles coaching role.

Mr Renard is expected to leave his job with the French women's team at the end of the 2024 Olympics taking place between July 26 and August 11 and has set sight on coaching a men’s national team for the 2026 World Cup. It is not yet clear of the NFF have made direct contact with him or if he will be able to handle the team ahead of the June World Cup qualifiers.

“It’s a difficult job. If I had to be brief, I have in the back of my mind the 2026 World Cup in men’s football, I hope that it will be my third World Cup at the head of a men’s team. These are my personal motivations,” Mr Renard said.