
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata said that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had contacted him on the possibility of leading the Super Eagles to the South Africa 2010 World Cup. Hassan Shehata, who has been in charge of Pharaohs of Egyptian team since 2004, on Sunday helped the team to a third successive Nations Cup triumph after beating the Black Stars of Ghana by 1 – 0 in Luanda in Angola.
The 60-year-old coach told television station Modern Sport and bbc that, “Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) expressed an interest in hiring me to take charge of their team during the World Cup. It will be a great honor for me to work in the World Cup, but the Egyptian FA will have the final word on whether I could work with Nigeria on a temporary basis.”
Nigeria, who slumped to a 1-3 defeat to Pharaohs of Egyptian in their group-stage opener, is reportedly looking to replace Shaibu Amodu or a technical advice for the Super Eager after finishing third in Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
It was reported that, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had been linked with Zambia manager Herve Renard and Mozambique coach Mart Nooij, the Egypt coach Shehata claim came as a surprise. The choice of Shehata over Nooij and Renard may be due to the success he recorded with the Pharaohs of Egypt in the past three editions of the Nations Cup.
Egypt narrowly missed out on a place at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa after losing 1-0 to Algeria in a play-off in Sudan after both sides finished level on points and goal difference during regular qualifying. Hassan Shehata is regarded as a coach with little patience for players‘ indiscipline, which is one of the major problem of the Nigeria team.