Sunday Oliseh, the Nigerian national football team's head coach, has released a two-part video venting his frustrations at critics after the team's early exit from the African Nations Championships (CHAN).
The Super Eagles crashed out of the tournament—which is reserved for players who play in their own national leagues—in the group stage following a shock 1-0 defeat to Guinea in January. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) won the tournament by defeating Mali 3-0 in Sunday's final.
Oliseh, who apologized to Nigerians after the Guinea defeat, posted his video response on YouTube on Saturday. The former Nigerian international didn't mince his words when addressing critics who had called for him to lose his job following the poor showing at CHAN. "You must be insane to start seeking the plebiscite on the future of the national team's coach of Nigeria because we lost CHAN," said Oliseh, describing CHAN as "the least important tournament" held by African football's governing body, the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF).
Nigeria are currently 63rd in FIFA's world rankings, their worst position since 2012. Oliseh, who made 28 appearances as a player for Nigeria at FIFA tournaments and won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, took over the role of head coach in July 2015. The team has lost two of his 11 games in charge.
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About the writer
Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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