Ex-Sweden coach, Andersson, linked to Super Eagles’ job

Former Sweden manager, Janne Andersson, is rumoured to be the frontrunner for the Super Eagles coaching role, The Guardian reports.

Although the country’s soccer governing body has yet to make the announcement official, The Guardian has gathered that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) may have settled on the 61-year-old, who ended his six-year stint with Sweden last November and rejected Latvia’s overtures.

Former Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire coach, Hervé Renard, was expected to take charge of the Super Eagles, but his chances diminished after the French coach demanded a monthly salary of $180,000 (about N253m), among several other conditions.

Other shortlisted coaches include Eric Chelle, Tom Saintfiet, and Steve McClaren. If Andersson is appointed, he would become the second Swede to manage the Super Eagles, following Lars Lagerbäck, who led Nigeria during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Another Swedish coach, Thomas Dennerby, managed the Super Falcons at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

Andersson’s domestic success, leading Norrköping to their first Allsvenskan title in 2016, earned him the Swedish national team job after Euro 2016.

He won 48 of his 94 games in charge, eliminating the Netherlands and Italy on Sweden’s way to reaching the 2018 World Cup quarter-final, where they lost to England.

After topping their Nations League B group, the Swedes advanced from the delayed Euro 2020 group stage but were eliminated by Ukraine in extra time during the last-16 tie.

However, setbacks followed, with Sweden missing out on the 2022 World Cup after a 2-0 playoff loss to Poland and failing to qualify for Euro 2024.

Andersson made an emotional farewell with a 2-0 win over Estonia in November after Sweden was eliminated from contention for Euro 2024, with Belgium and Austria securing the qualification spots.

It is also worth recalling that Finidi George resigned in June due to poor results.