Ibrahim Gusau: NFF President claims national teams will ‘be back’ at the ‘very top’

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, has revealed that Nigeria’s national team will return to winning ways.

The President claims that his government is making every effort to guarantee that the national teams reclaim their former glory.

With the exception of losing the opportunity to represent Africa in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Super Eagles could only brag of winning the AFCON competition since 2013.

The Super Falcons won their most recent title in 2018 after beating South Africa in the championship game.

Gusau said in a statement published on the NFF website that his administration would keep making decisions that would restructure how teams played their games.

“The present NFF administration will continue to fashion and implement policies that are targeted at re-engineering the Nigeria game, in order to pull it back to the top. The process requires a lot of hard work and focus and we are determined to do the needful.” he wrote. 

His administration seemed to be more focused on enlisting players who are passionate about representing their nation; he said that his administration will develop Nigerian football from the ground up.

“As we have enunciated now and again, the vision of this new team is to build our football from the grassroots with vigour and with a sense of purpose. We are putting the nuts and bolts together and very soon the drive will commence powerfully.” He continued. 

The Super Eagles are rated 35th globally and 5th in Africa in the FIFA rankings, while the Super Falcons are ranked 45th globally. Gusau, though, is prepared to put the teams back on top.

“Our National Teams have been up there before and will be back at the very top sooner than later. This year, the Super Eagles, Super Falcons, Olympic Eagles, Flying Eagles and Golden Eaglets have major tournaments at hand, and we are focused on preparing the teams adequately to get good results from their various engagements and tournaments.” he added.

While Nigeria’s emphasis will be on the Super Falcons, who will represent Africa at the 2023 World Cup in New Zealand, the reform is anticipated to begin when Jose Peseiro prepares the Super Eagles for the next AFCON competition.