The new Super Eagles Chief Coach, Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh, has warned Nigerian football fans against seeing him as the messiah that would single-handedly resuscitate the country’s football.

“Personally it is a great honour to be a coach of this great nation. My acceptance by the federation and Nigerians touches the heart and we are more than motivated to give our best for Nigeria. First of all, I am not coming as a messiah, or the man who knows it all. I cannot singularly turn Nigeria into Germany. But I am coming as a man who has come to serve his country and I will give a 150 per cent to it.”

Speaking after signing a three-year contract to coach the national team, Oliseh assured that he would be over 100 per cent committed to his job, adding that he had already started compiling a list of Nigerian players that have the potential to make his team.

“Only players at the first cadre on the Nigerian league and those playing at renowned championships in the world would make the team. I would ensure my team has a cordial relationship with the NFF technical department and executive committee.

 “I think I owe it to you to explain why my assistants are carefully chosen by me. When we had to bring in an expatriate to serve in Nigerian football, I told the NFF president that I would not be party to the bringing in an expatriate, who will come with a better than thou attitude here.

“We need an expatriate who will be ready to work and who is hungry for victory. We need one who knows Africa and does not need time to acclimatize. That was how we arrived at Jean Francoise Luiscuito.

“For Salisu, we needed him very seriously because he knows in and out of the league. Alloy Agu we also need because when you are talking of calmness and giving tactical advises to the coaches and goalkeepers, he fits in very well. That is why we are what we are as a team. It is obvious that the days are gone when we have individual players that can win matches for us out of their own individual efforts. That was what stood my own generation of Nigerian footballers apart.

“The way it goes is that if you don’t have great individual players, you need a great coaching crew to compensate for what you don’t have. But we have potential to be the best in the world. That is what the coaching crew honestly believes. They were meticulously chosen for this job.”

He explained that the coaching crew has “set up certain criterion for those who will play in our new Super Eagles from now on. One of them is that if you are not playing in the first division of the Nigerian league or any credible league in the world, you will not play for the Super Eagles.”

 “We need players who are only hungry and motivated. No player is doing Nigeria a favour by playing for the national team, just like I am not doing Nigeria a favour by coaching the Super Eagles. It is an honour to play for or coach Nigeria.”

Explaining why the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chose Oliseh as Super Eagles’ coach, Amaju Pinnick, NFF President said he consulted both FIFA and CAF on the quality of the coach that could revive Nigerian football.

 “We are very excited because we know as a federation that Mr Sunday Oliseh will deliver. The federation has been working as a team; it was not until 5.00 p.m. this morning (on Tuesday) that we arrived at an agreement hence the unveiling that took place today.

 “As a member of the highly revered FIFA technical study group, Oliseh has continued to impact knowledge to coaches all over the world. He has promised us that he wants to redefine his playing pattern through teamwork. In Oliseh, I can assure you that we are going to have one of the best coaches in the history of Nigeria.”

He announced that the NFF has begun to prove that it was ready to accommodate the new coach and his technical crew by paying into his account, three months of his salary in advance.