Nigeria may be close to appointing interim manager Salisu Yusuf on a permanent basis.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) vice president, Seyi Akinwunmi, says that everyone at board level are pleased with the way the team has performed under the regime ofYusuf. Hence, they are now considering making him as the new Nigeria national team coach. The team competed in friendly games against Mali and Luxembourg under the regime ofYusuf. In both these games, the team performed exceptionally well and managed to concede only one goal.

Nigerian national team coach Salisu Yusuf has been facing criticism for his failure to pick a large number of homegrown players.

He has been placing his faith on players currently plying their trade in foreign nations. A number of Nigerian international is are currently playing in European football, which is regarded as the pinnacle of the sport. Hence, he seems to be giving preference to these players in the hope of continuing the good work done by the national team in recent seasons.Yusuf took charge of the national team only in April. The team is looking forward to play its first game under Yusuf when they take on Mali in a friendly game towards the end of May.