PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Nigerian Coach Stephen Keshi returns to Togo national team
Lomé, Togo (PANA) - Nigerian-born coach, Stephen Keshi, may have returned to his former job with the Togolese national football team of Togo, as he was seen this week taking the players through training stints in preparation for their CAN 2012 qualifier Saturday against Malawi.
"The Executive Bureau approved the choice of Stephen Keshi to help the national team. Keshi did not pose too many conditions. But after this match, we will see to what extent we can start the process of the recruitment of a coach for Togo. Of course Keshi could apply if he wants," Gabriel Améyi, the president of the Togolese Football Federation (FTF), declared Tuesday.
PANA recalled that Keshi has twice led the Togolese national team, the Hawks.
In 2006, he qualified Togo for the World Cup in Germany but following some differences between him and Rock Bakiyem Gnassingbé, then president of FTF, he could not lead the team to the mundial and was hastily replaced by German Otto Pfitser.
In 2007, he was called again to lead the team and was sacked in 2008 for not qualifying them for the CAN 2008 in Ghana.
Before coming back to Togo, Keshi had a stint with Mali but was sacked in 2010 after the poor performance of the Malian team at CAN in Angola.
-0- FAA/TBM/MTD/BOS 23March2011
After losing in his bid to coach the Super Eagles, former Nigeria international, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi has secured a new job to manage the national team of another West African country.
Speaking in a telephone chat from his United States base, Complete Sports Saturday exclusively gathered that Keshi is set to resume as the chief coach of the Togolese national team, the Hawks before the end of this month.
The Big Boss as Keshi is fondly called by Nigerian fans would be taking over from Frenchman, Thierry Froger who was recently sacked as coach of the Hawks following spates of poor results which have seen the Togolese team failing to win any match in recent times.
The Togo job would be Keshi’s second stint as coach of the Hawks, having handled the Togolese team between 2004 and 2006 when he led Togo to qualify for their first World Cup finals.
He was however, unable to lead the Hawks to Germany for the tournament proper, as he was sacked as coach of the team prior to the World Cup finals following a poor outing at the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt where the Hawks failed to advance beyond the group stages.
After his sack from Togo, Keshi went on to become the coach of the Mali national team signing a two-year deal in April 2008. He succeeded in qualifying Mali for the 2010 African Cup of Nations but failed to secure the World Cup ticket. His sojourn in Mali however, ended abruptly, as he was sacked as coach after Mali failed to go beyond the group stages at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.
Keshi lost out to former national team colleague, Samson Siasia, in the race to land the Nigerian plum job recently.
"The Executive Bureau approved the choice of Stephen Keshi to help the national team. Keshi did not pose too many conditions. But after this match, we will see to what extent we can start the process of the recruitment of a coach for Togo. Of course Keshi could apply if he wants," Gabriel Améyi, the president of the Togolese Football Federation (FTF), declared Tuesday.
PANA recalled that Keshi has twice led the Togolese national team, the Hawks.
In 2006, he qualified Togo for the World Cup in Germany but following some differences between him and Rock Bakiyem Gnassingbé, then president of FTF, he could not lead the team to the mundial and was hastily replaced by German Otto Pfitser.
In 2007, he was called again to lead the team and was sacked in 2008 for not qualifying them for the CAN 2008 in Ghana.
Before coming back to Togo, Keshi had a stint with Mali but was sacked in 2010 after the poor performance of the Malian team at CAN in Angola.
-0- FAA/TBM/MTD/BOS 23March2011
After losing in his bid to coach the Super Eagles, former Nigeria international, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi has secured a new job to manage the national team of another West African country.
Speaking in a telephone chat from his United States base, Complete Sports Saturday exclusively gathered that Keshi is set to resume as the chief coach of the Togolese national team, the Hawks before the end of this month.
The Big Boss as Keshi is fondly called by Nigerian fans would be taking over from Frenchman, Thierry Froger who was recently sacked as coach of the Hawks following spates of poor results which have seen the Togolese team failing to win any match in recent times.
The Togo job would be Keshi’s second stint as coach of the Hawks, having handled the Togolese team between 2004 and 2006 when he led Togo to qualify for their first World Cup finals.
He was however, unable to lead the Hawks to Germany for the tournament proper, as he was sacked as coach of the team prior to the World Cup finals following a poor outing at the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt where the Hawks failed to advance beyond the group stages.
After his sack from Togo, Keshi went on to become the coach of the Mali national team signing a two-year deal in April 2008. He succeeded in qualifying Mali for the 2010 African Cup of Nations but failed to secure the World Cup ticket. His sojourn in Mali however, ended abruptly, as he was sacked as coach after Mali failed to go beyond the group stages at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.
Keshi lost out to former national team colleague, Samson Siasia, in the race to land the Nigerian plum job recently.
