Chinasa Osunkwo
3 December 2008
Lagos — Former Super Falcons Coach, Sam Okpodu, has distanced himself from calls for a foreign coach for the Super Falcons after their disgraceful outing at the just ended African Women Championship in Equatorial Guinea.
Falcons Coach, Jossy Lad, has come under fire for leading the Falcons to their first AWC where they could not defend the title they had won five times. Princess Bola Jegede among other Nigerians have asked for the head of Coach Lad who was spared the rod after he also fumbled at the Beijing Olympic Games.
But Okpodu, speaking on Brila FM monitored in Lagos yesterday, said that sacking of the coach of Falcons would not solve the problem of the female national team. "If you continue to sack coaches once their wards do not do well, that means that you will continue to sack till Armageddon".
The USA-based coach also did not spare the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, as he said that they have not done enough to train and expose coaches in their employ. "It's a shame because the coaches bear the brunt once his team is beaten. What about the Football Association? Have they played their part well like sending the coaches on training to update their knowledge?", Okpodu asked insisting that there are abundant talents in the country, noting that the problem was on how to use them.
"There are so many gifted players in the country but the truth is that the NFA does not do enough to support the coaches", Okpodu emphasised.
The Falcons fell from their exalted position in African female football ending the AWC as third best after a face-saving penalty win against Cameroun in the third place match. Equatorial Guinea became the first African country to win the trophy after five years of dominance by the Nigerian lasses.
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