Football is one of the most popular sports in Nigeria with an estimated following of over 50 millions fans scattered over the 36 states of the country. The game has gained so much significance with the subsequent emergence of the Super Eagles as one of the biggest brand in Africa.
The game has always enjoyed the patronage of certain technocrats who are commonly referred to football coaches. These are the arrow-head of every successful team, as they ensure that players are well-groomed and conditioned. In Nigeria, football coaches have been given their fair share of prominence with the insistence of the Nigeria Football federation to recruit Local coaches to manage the national teams. One the most popular tactician in the country is none other than Samson Siasia.
Brief Biography
Coach Samson Siasia remains the most popular football technocrat in Nigeria till date, with his antecedent in the age-grade teams. He is presently the Chief Coach of the Senior National team- The Super Eagles of Nigeria who are ranked 4th in Africa. Coach Samson Siasia came into prominence in 2005 when he led the U-20 National team to a second place finish at the FIFA U-20 tournament held in Holland.
The desire to succeed made him to recruit a new breed of football stars at the 2008 Olympics football event held in Beijing China. He made headline back in Nigeria with scintillating performance of the Dream team 4 that reached the finals only to lose to eventual winners Argentina by a solitary goal.
In December 2010, he was formally appointed as the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles after months of media speculations. He remains a firm believer in grass root football with the strong emphasis on home based players who have been deployed into the main stream of the Super Eagles.
He is also the founder of Siaone soccer academy which is presently based in Yenegoa Bayelsa State. The academy was borne out of a passion to groom future talent and potential players for the U-17 National Football team.
An indigenous of Bayelsa state, he was part of the Super Eagles squad that won the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia. He was also an integral member of the Nigeria team that stunned the world at the FIFA World Cup held in the United States of America, where he scored he fantastic goal against Argentina.
A product of the Nigeria U-20 team that participated at the 1985 World Youth Championship, he was a prolific goal poacher who played for top football clubs in France, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.