Nigeria name Siasia as new coach

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday named Samson Siasia as the country’s new coach on a four-year contract.

Siasia was picked in favour of Stephen Keshi in an emergency meeting of the NFF in Abuja.

Siasia’s appointment was not on account of his popularity with the fans, but because of performance at Thursday’s interview, according to federation secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme.

“He was the obvious choice based on his performance at the interview,” said Ikpeme.

The popular Siasia has been successful with the country’s Under-20 team as well as the Olympic team between 2005 and 2009.

The 43-year-old will start his new job on December 1 with his immediate task being to qualify Nigeria to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Libya.

Nigeria are second behind Guinea in Group B of the qualifying tournament, which also includes Madagascar and Ethiopia with only the group winner automatically qualifying for the biennial championship.