The Nigerian national male football team, Super Eagles, former coach, Philippe Troussier, has been sacked by Vietnam football Federation over poor performance.
Troussier, who qualified Nigeria for France ‘98 World Cup, was relieved of his contract after the team suffered 3-0 defeat against Indonesia during third round of Asia’s preliminaries qualifications for the 2026 World Cup.
The defeat yesterday which forced the Vietnam Football Federation to announce the French tactician’s sack has pushed the national team out of qualifications for the next round on the table.
The loss in Hanoi, which was the second defeat in six days against the Indonesians and has left Vietnam in third place in qualifying Group F.
Only the top two from each of the nine groups in the second phase of Asia’s preliminary tournament reach the next round.
The Frenchman, famously known as the ‘White Witchdoctor’ for his belief in witchcraft took over from Park Hang-seo last year with hopes of qualifying the country’s team for tournament.
Vietnam have never played at the World Cup but, with Asia’s representation at the finals in 2026 increased to a guaranteed eight spots, hopes had been high that the former Japan coach could take the country closer to their first qualification.
However back-to-back losses mean the Vietnamese are four points behind their South East Asian rivals and must win against the Philippines and Iraq in June and hope Indonesia fail to collect three points from their two remaining matches.
Iraq secured one of the group’s two qualification spots on Tuesday as a 5-0 win over the Philippines moved Jesus Casas’ side to 12 points from four games.
It will be recalled that he was given a second chance by Nigeria in 2005, he walked off just as he was expected to fly down for contract signing.
He was suspected to have done so to pay Nigeria back for an earlier sacking. He had since made a tour of the globe to South Africa, Burkina Faso, Japan, and Qatar.
