Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has said that he and his assistants would have to inject new philosophy and playing style for the team to excel once more.
The team that won the Africa Nations Cup in 2013 so nose-dived in their status that the country could not qualify for the 2015 edition, where they were meant to feature as reigning champions.
"For some years now, there have been offers and discussions about me taking over. It has been on the table, but it has not yet happened because the timing was off," Oliseh told FIFA.com.
The former Nigeria captain admitted that even though he finally felt ready for the job, he hesitated to accept the challenging offer.
He said, "To coach Nigeria is not the easiest job in the world and one is only as good as the players. Nigeria at the moment has a lot of potential, but we don't have a lot of confirmed players in the top clubs in the top leagues, so taking over the national team now means we have to remake the whole team and introduce a new philosophy of playing style, of culture and mentality. That is very difficult to do when you are the national team coach because you have very limited time with the players unlike when you coach a club. So that is why I was very hesitant."
The former midfielder who last played for Nigeria at the Mali 2002 Nations Cup said that he accepted the job because he felt wanted by Nigerian fans.
"When I came into Nigeria to have talks, I came out of the airport and I knew there was no going back because all the way from the airport, my countrymen were saying: 'You have to take the job, you have to take the job.' So I did.
"It is going to be very, very difficult, but I believe we can qualify. All we have to do is look at ourselves, try to improve our game and hopefully we will qualify."
Oliseh has faced severe criticisms from those who believe that his lack of serious previous coaching experience will not help the Eagles but he feels differently.
"I don't think that is a drawback though. Time will tell, but I took the job to be successful.
"We all have dreams, and I am hoping I will be as successful as I can be. But one has to be realistic also. We have just started, and our first step is to hopefully just win the (AFCON qualifier) against Tanzania. That is what I am praying for, game by game."
Source: punch
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