The cloud is teeming with expectations as Nigerian football fans patiently await the appointment of a new head coach for arguably the country's most successful national team, the Super Falcons.
Indeed, no ship can survive the storm or reach its destination without the help of an experienced and well-trained captain on board to steer the wheel.
It goes without saying that every national team needs top managers with technical know-how to help it climb the ladder of success.
With the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) increasing its search for a new manager to take Super Falcons to the next level, Premium Times via Sports central is x-raying some of the top coaches who, as the Nigerian Women's National Team, could issue orders from the touchline in the coming days. .
While it's an open secret that the NFF is ready to appoint a foreign coach for the Super Falcons, Nigerian coaches who are nonetheless qualified and have shown intent will be included on this shortlist. At best, they can become an assistant to the foreign coach.
Hesterine de Reus (Holland)
According to sources, the Dutchwoman is leading the group of coaches scrambling for the work of the super Falcons.
A renowned and experienced as far as the women's game is involved, Hesterine de Reus has extensive experience in football development and coaching education in many countries, most notably as a national coach for senior and minor teams in Europe, the Middle East and Europe. Australia.
Reus was first contacted by NFF chiefs in 2015 to help coordinate the Super Falcons after a grim foray into the World Cup. However, the two sides could not reach an agreement on salaries and technical issues.
De Reus has spent most of her life in Europe playing and coaching and loves to create a more professional environment within the camp of the teams she leads without outside interference.
Like Louis Van Gaal and all other Dutch men's football coaches, she is tough, open and blunt, a common trait among female managers in Europe.
In 2014, she was sacked by the Australia FA for her outburst weeks leading up to the Asian Cup tournament in Vietnam.
The NFF should expect to see a woman willing to cross the line and push as hard as she can to get what she wants from the players and the federation.
She heads the UEFA Assist partnership program for the development of women's football in Central Africa. The 59-year-old veteran coach also led Jordan to triumph in the 2010 Arabian Women's Cup.
Whether or not she will be ready to quit her job at UEFA to tinker with Nigeria is another major hurdle. But when she does, you'd expect revolutionary Falcons to their best.
Randy Waldrum (United States)
The 63-year-old Texas-born tactician ranks second in the pecking order of coaches vying for the Super Falcons manager position.
Waldrum was also largely inclined to manage the Super Falcons after the NFF failed to renew Omagbemi's contract, but a good number of Super Falcons players were very disappointed when he left Nigeria in December 2017 to team up with the University of Pittsburgh Women team.
He's ready to give the Nigerian project a second chance and most Super Falcons players will be happy to work with him as well.
The former coach of the United States U-23 national team is in his third season as coach of the Saint-Pittsburgh team, where he followed a significant improvement in the team in 2019. The team took 10th place in the ACC ranking.
The legendary women's soccer coach is ranked 14th in NCAA history in wins as a head coach (408). He is also sixth among active head coaches.
Waldrum is known for his ability to build a team from scratch. From the start, he was the perfect choice for NFF. The board had to go with Dennerby as what was desirable was not available at the time.
A believer in youth and attacking football, Waldrum was commended for presenting one of the best recruiting classes in program history at St. Pittsburgh last season.
Thomas Dennerby (Sweden)
The former Sweden national team coach was at the helm of affairs at the last Women World Cup in France when Nigeria crashed out in the second round. Quitting his job midway with a year left on his contract, the Super Falcons failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
His behavior annoyed most of the NFF bigwigs who asked the Swedish tactician to stay with the squad, but Dennerby decided to take a hefty U-17 job in India. He then appointed former Super Falcons keeper Precious Dede to coach the Indian U-17 keeper.
But as the Indian government insists on being shut down for another three months because of Covid-19, coupled with little talent, Dennerby is already campaigning for a comeback.
A senior member of the NFF Technology and Development Committee has confirmed the Swede is determined to return.
In reality, his chances are very slim as he left his employers at a time when his service was badly needed. Many felt that he was gone without further delay and threw the baby out with the bathwater. In addition, some sections of the press felt that he had never tactically influenced the team during his tenure.
Dennerby has his camp in the NFF and in a country where anything is possible, his return is possible as you never can tell what happens in few minutes.
Florence Omagbemi
As a member of the Super Conquering Falcons of 1998, Omagbemi wrote her name in the history book as the first coach to win the AWC Trophy as a player and coach. Nigeria fended off Cameroon's threats to become eight-time African champions in 2016.
She started her career with several American teams before being named interim coach of the national team. Previously, she was an assistant coach of the Nigerian U20 women's national football team.
Her success in Cameroon confirms the fact that the former Pelican Star coach has grown up. But Omagbemi's chance of beating his overseas counterparts seems impossible, as NFF is there to hire technocrats from abroad.
She could end up serving as an assistant coach for her overseas counterparts after the NFF accused local coaches of holding the country at ransom.
Mercy Akide Udoh
Mercurial Mercy was keen to replace Thomas Dennerby, but her dream of managing the Super Falcons will have to wait a while if the feelers from NFF secretariat are anything to go by. However, she deserves praise for accepting the challenge after the NFF invited former internationals to apply for the vacant position.
The smiling 44-year-old coach, considered one of the most prolific strikers, began her coaching career at the Stars Soccer Club, where she rose through the ranks to become the head coach of the Stars U-16 Athena C Gold Girls.
She believes in youth development.
She then served five years as the Co-Director of Youth Development at Beach FC in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 2013, Ms. Udoh joined the coaching staff at Virginia Rush Soccer Club in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
But she's ready to try for the team she once played for, as according to her the best way to give back to Nigeria is to serve as a national coach.
In an interview with ACLSports as cited by Sports Central recently, she said: "I try to make sure I take care of all the aspects. So I don't mind whether it is the junior team or the Super Falcons, I am ready.
She also added: "I don't care what level. If you want to be a good coach like I am, I can coach even a cripple, if you come to Virginia Beach (where she lives in the USA) and ask for any female coach, they will call my name, that's how good I am with both little kids, adults medium, whatever.
Eucharia Uche
The former Super Falcons striker hasn't given up on her dream of leading Africa's most successful women's national team and she continued to tell the NFF bigwigs that she was the best for the job.
Ms Uche remains the only woman to lead the squad to win the Women's Africa Cup (AWC) and a campaign at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Considered as one of the pioneers of women's football in Nigeria, she believes other African countries are catching up with Nigeria quickly and Super Falcons have yet to prove their worth on a global tournament.
She will change that when she has the opportunity to serve again.
Conclusion
As is common with high-level recruiting of this type, some twists are not impossible, resulting in new names appearing and names already shortlisted to drop.
However, anyone taking the job would be under immense pressure to maintain Nigeria's unparalleled dominance in Africa.
Regardless of who the chosen one is, he or she is expected to lift a cracked side that is overweight and rub shoulders with the heavyweights of world women's football in the future.
