President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Musa Gusau, has for the first time spoken on the appointment of Coach Aliyu Zubair who was recently named the Head Coach of Nigeria’s men U20 team the Flying Eagles.
Recall that Coach Zubair was appointed to handle the team in September ahead of the WAFU- Zone B tournament in Togo.
Speaking in an interview on NFF TV, Alhaji Gusau stated that the appointment was based on merit and his track records.
He stated that the NFF Technical committee was given a free hand to work on the selection of coaches, and it’s their recommendation that the executive member worked with.
The NFF President was speaking in regards to appointment of Coaches for the National team in the country, saying that the body will continue to consider merit over any other criteria.
Aliyu Zubair is one of the few Coaches to have promoted two different teams from the NNL to the NPFL in the history of Nigerian football. He is also widely admired for his talent discovery acumen and featuring young players in his team.
NFF President said, “We have a coach in the Under-20 and we look at merit- we gave the Technical committee to look at who is capable based on the current performance and current situation to give us what we want as far as our team is concerned and they decided to say that they want to give us Aliyu Zubair to handle U-20 who happens to be the Coach of Elkanemi Warriors.
Gusau acknowledged Coach Aliyu Zubair’s feat of promoting the Elkanemi Warriors from the NNL to the NPFL and also led the team to 2024 President Federation Cup glory where they defeated Abia Warriors 2-0 in the final.
“Everybody saw the performance of the boys how they are doing and look at what the young boys are doing in the league and when they( NFF Technical Committee) say it’s Aliyu Zubairu, we didn’t dispute it” Gusau added.
Coach Zubair since his appointment as the Head Coach of the team has gone to work training the invited players and shaping them for the task ahead. His appointment was widely accepted and has been described as a breath of fresh air.
Under his watch, the team has played several friendly games at their open camp in Abuja where they won eight out of their nine encounters.
The 2023 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalists have now moved to Ikenne at the high-grade Remo Sports Institute for a week before departing for Lome, where they tackle Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire in a three-team Group B, in their quest to defend the title they won in Niger Republic two years ago.
Hosts Togo will battle Ghana, Benin Republic and Niger Republic in Group A of the competition that is scheduled for 17th – 31st October.
The championship in Togo serves as the qualifying tournament for next year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations, from where the top-placed four teams will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Chile.
