The shortlist of tacticians to be considered for the post of Nigeria national team coach will be announced on Friday, according to the Nigeria Football Federation.
The position, which was vacated by Sunday Oliseh earlier in the year, has been temporarily filled by the Olympic Dream Team VI coach Samson Siasia, as well as Salisu Yusuf, but the time has come for a permanent head coach to be selected.
The deadline for applications of interested parties is Wednesday, July 6, with the Super Eagles shortlist to be made public two days later.
Nigeria Football Federation technical and development committee chairman Chris Green has welcomed any applications for the high profile coaching position, setting out the notable dates for submission and the shortlist announcement.
“We encourage applications from all highly–qualified persons, whether they be Nigerians or expatriates,” Green explained, according to AfricanFootball.
“Applications are welcome until Wednesday, and the Technical and Development Committee will meet on Friday to look through all applications and release a short-list,” he added.
With World Cup qualification at stake, the new Super Eagles coach needs to be chosen so that he can begin preparing the team for upcoming matches against top opposition.
The 2018 World Cup qualifying draw for the 20 African teams who still have a chance to qualify for the tournament took place in Cairo in June, and Nigeria was drawn in the group of death.
The third round of qualifying saw the Super Eagles drawn in Group B alongside Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia, with only one of these African giants set to emerge with a ticket to the next World Cup.
This will be a priority of the next Nigeria national team coach, who will unfortunately not be able to take his team to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon following the team’s failure to qualify for the flagship continental competition.
Nigeria begin their qualification campaign with an away match against the Chipolopolo of Zambia on October 3, before welcoming Africa’s top ranked team, Algeria, on November 7.
