As reactions continue to trail the performance of Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle, former Nigerian international Sylvanus Okpala insists that a Nigerian coach should be considered for the job.
Speaking with Brila.net, Okpala questioned the argument often used against indigenous coaches.
He challenged critics by pointing to Chelle’s own coaching background prior to his appointment.
“All I can say is that it’s Nigerian coaches that will solve the Super Eagles problem. I’ve been saying it for maybe five years now,” Okpala said.
“I read again where someone said that if you want to coach the national team, you must have taken a club side to the continent and won the CAF Champions League.
“I started thinking—if that is the yardstick for coaching the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle is from Mali, so how many teams did he coach in Mali that won the CAF Champions League?”
Okpala’s comments come despite Chelle guiding Nigeria to a bronze-medal finish at the 2025 AFCON, a performance that has continued to divide opinion.
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A respected figure in Nigerian football history, Okpala was part of Nigeria’s first AFCON-winning squad in 1980.
He also represented Nigeria at two Olympic Games Moscow 1980 and Seoul 1988. At club level, he featured prominently for Portuguese sides Marítimo and C.D. Nacional.
In coaching, Okpala served as assistant manager to the late Stephen Keshi and was a key member of the technical crew that led Nigeria to AFCON glory in 2013 in South Africa.
