Nigeria’s head coach Eric Chelle’s decision to combine the Super Eagles and Olympic Eagles jobs is about to face its first major examination.
This development arrives as Nigeria’s senior and U23 sides are scheduled for crucial competitive fixtures in the same November international window.
The 47-year-old coach must steer the Super Eagles through a two-game AFCON 2027 qualifying showdown with Tanzania while simultaneously preparing the Olympic Eagles for a decisive U23 AFCON qualifying tie against DR Congo.
Nigeria host Tanzania on November 11 before travelling for the return fixture on November 15, with the Super Eagles needing maximum points after their damaging 3-0 defeat by Guinea-Bissau.
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Chelle himself admitted after that loss that the two Tanzania matches were “very important” and that Nigeria had to win both.
Super Eagles and Olympics Eagles face tricky November
The complication is that the Olympic Eagles are also entering their own decisive AFCON U23 qualification campaign.
DR Congo overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Mauritania by winning 2-0 in Lubumbashi on October 6, progressing 2-1 on aggregate and earning a second-round meeting with Nigeria. The first leg is scheduled for November 9 in DR Congo with the return on November 17 in Nigeria.
It is a situation that creates an unusual calendar for Chelle, who led the Super Eagles to a 3-3 draw with Russia on Tuesday. Chelle’s U23 side could face DR Congo just two days before the Super Eagles host Tanzania, then return to U23 duty two days after Nigeria’s second AFCON qualifier.
Interestingly, the U23 AFCON in Egypt is the route to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a tournament Nigeria have missed since their bronze-medal campaign at Rio 2016. Nigeria missed the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
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The Nigeria Football Federation are yet to announce the structure of the coaching setup that will handle all four matches in November.
It is, however, highly likely that Chelle will concentrate on the Super Eagles while his U23 assistant coaches will handle the Olympics team.
Bright Osehai Ozebagbe and Deniran Ortega are Chelle’s two Nigerian assistant coaches for the U23 national team.
Ozebagbe is currently the Technical Adviser for Nigeria Premier Football League side Ikorodu City FC while Ortega is a UEFA-licensed tactician trained by the Scottish Football Association.
