Lagos — A former President of the West African Football Union, (WAFU) Chief Jonathan Ogufere has declared any manner of distraction should not be allowed to get on the path of the Super Eagles chief coach, Shaibu Amodu, in his preparations ahead of next year's Africa Cup of Nations coming up in Angola.

As far as the veteran administrator is concerned, now that the Cup of Nations draw has been made, Amodu needs all the concentration time he can get to get on with the job at hand, in preparing a team for the tournament.

"The World Cup qualifiers are over and Nigeria is in it. We don't want any distractions from anywhere, and certainly, neither Amodu, nor the team needs it. The Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) is trying to draw out a concrete plan towards having an outing that we can all be proud of and make sure the coach and his players get all they need before the battles begin in January," he commented.

Ogufere reminded that so many renowned foreign coaches have failed to qualify their teams for the World Cup Finals and that therefore, it is a credit to Amodu that he did for Nigeria. "I think he is one of the few coaches in Africa who did not lose a single game in the qualifying senes, so I am saying well done to him."

Chief Ogufere reacted to the prospects of a foreign coach taking the Super Eagles to the South Africa Finals next year June. "I think it will be unfortunate and immoral for us to start thinking about hiring a foreign coach for the Eagles at this stage.

"We don't have much time as we all know that bringing a foreign coach now will consume time and money, thereby slowing down our preparations. We have tried this several times and have discovered that coaches like Bora Milutinovic; brought in at the last stage for the France '98 Finals, did not really make any difference. And the reason for that is quite obvious - he did not have enough time to understand the players and also know the guiding principles of the then NFA.

"So this time round, what the NFF should be focusing on is how to strengthen the technical crew under Amodu, provide experts to work with him. Clemens Westerhoff did that himself by bringing in Jo Bonfere when he qualified Nigeria for the Unites States Finals of 1994.

"Presently, there is a good relationship and understanding between Amodu and his players, and that should not be disturbed," he concluded.