Nigeria’s Under-17 World Cup winning coach, Manu Garba, has been promoted to the U-20 team.
The technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) made this announcement through its head of technical department, Emmanuel Ikpeme on Sunday in Lagos.
Garba has become an instant hit with Nigerians for his managerial skills and exploits with the U-17 side.
Garba led Nigeria to a record fourth under-17 World Cup title in the United Arab Emirates last year. He will be assisted by former Nigerian International, Nduka Ugbade, who was also his assistant during the World Cup in the UAE.
Garba and Ugbade will be hoping to become the first coaches to lead Nigeria to the U-20 World Cup title as the Flying Eagles have never won the tournament despite appearing in ten finals.
Meanwhile, the NFF has appointed former Barcelona Sporting Lisbon and Super Eagles winger, Emmanuel Amuneke as the U-17 replacement for Garba.
Amuneke takes over the reins of the U-17 team with immediate effect. He is fondly remembered for his heroic performance for Nigeria at Tunisia 1994, where he scored a brace in the final to win the title for Nigeria.
His scintillating performance that year earned him a move to Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon from Egyptian outfit, Zamalek and the CAF African Player of the Year award.
He also scored the winner in Super Eagles 3-2 over Argentina in Atlanta 96 to clinch Africa’s first football gold medal.
His performance earned him another move, this time to Spanish giant FC Barcelona and BBC African Footballer of the Year award that same year. However, his stint with the Catalans was blighted by a knee injury he picked up in 1997.
He opened up a Soccer Academy back in Owerri where he has been in charge of the team affairs and management before his appointment as the U-17 Golden Eaglets coach.
