Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet has revealed that he took over
Bangladesh national team job ahead of Super Eagles due to lack of information
from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Sainfiet has been shortlisted along with Paul le Guen and
Salisu Yusuf to lead Nigeria for the 2018 World Cup qualifying series with the
successful candidate to be announced on Monday.
The Belgian coach, who has worked in South Africa, Tanzania
and Ethiopia, has been quoted as saying the Super Eagles job remains his top
priority, but media reports from Dhaka said Saintfiet has already started work
as Bangladesh coach.
“I saw exactly what you saw,” Saintfiet told the Dhaka
Tribune when he was asked about his situation with Nigeria.
“As a coach, I was without a job for the last two months. I
sent my CV to different federations all over the world and Nigeria were one of
them. On Friday, I saw I was in the shortlist but I don’t have proper
information about it (regarding interview with NFA).
“The first focus is on two (AFC Asian Cup qualifying playoff)
matches against Bhutan in September and October. When the matches are finished,
hopefully with the qualification, we will work together in future. First focus
is on three months and to try to get good results.”
Saintfiet recently sent a 32-man preliminary squad for the
upcoming home and away ties against Bhutan. Following the ongoing national camp,
he will go on a short vacation for a week. After his return, he will watch some
premier league matches and shuffle the preliminary squad further.
“I only picked 12 players and the rest were added by my
assistant coach [Saiful Bari] Titu. In the coming weeks, there will be league
matches. Based on that, new players may be added,” he concluded.
The Dhaka Tribune story was accompanied with a picture of
Saintfiet taking the Bangladesh through a training drill.
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