Former Nigeria striker Samson Siasia has been named the new coach of the national team and will take over the running of the side in December.
Siasia led the Under-20 side to the FIFA U-20 World Cup final in 2005 (where they were undone by Lionel Messi's Argentina) and also took Nigeria to the final of the 2008 Olympic Games (where they were beaten again by Argentina). He was chosen ahead of Stephen Keshi by the Nigeria Football Federation's technical committee.
On Thursday, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) issued a statement explaining why they chose Siasia over the former Mali coach. "After careful deliberation, the NFF has accepted the recommendation of the technical committee that Samson Siasia be appointed as head coach of the Super Eagles," it read. "Importantly, this is subject to a contract to be executed in a couple of days."
NFF Secretary General, Emmanuel Ikpeme added: "He was the obvious choice based on his performance at the interview," he said.
Nigeria have been looking to replace Lars Lagerback after he failed to get them out of the group stages at the World Cup. Lagerback reportedly earned nearly a million dollars for just over five months' work, but was released soon after returning from South Africa.
One of Siasia's immediate tasks will be to qualify the Super Eagles for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Libya, as the side currently lies second behind Guinea in Group B.
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