I won't lobby for Eagles' job - Rufai

Nigeria's first choice goalkeeper to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA, Peter Rufai, has declared that he's not desperate to join Samson Siasia's backroom staff in the Super Eagles as goalkeeper trainer, and would not lobby for the job.

Rufai, fondly called 'Dodo Mayana' by his admirers, insisted that nobody has contacted him on the job and wondered how his name came up in several media reports that he was in line for the job of becoming Siasia's assistant in the new Super Eagles' technical crew.

He said he found the talk making the rounds in the media amusing, as he had never indicated interest in the job, or has he been approached by anyone from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“The way you heard my name in the media is the same way I heard it and I can tell you that no one has contacted me by any means. It is not in my place to give myself a job in the NFF as goalkeeper trainer and I would not go asking for it. If the authorities running football in Nigeria deem it fit that I join the technical crew, then I would be glad to work in the interest of Nigeria,” he stated.

Rufai, who captained the Super Eagles to the France'98 World Cup, noted that as much as he would love to give back to Nigeria all he had gained from the country, he would not go begging for the job to work with Siasia.


“I believe in Siasia as the new Super Eagles' manager and I am convinced that he would succeed. He has my backing all the way in building a new Super Eagles that Nigerians would love to see in the very near future. But that does not mean that I would go begging to be the next Eagles' goalkeeper trainer.”

Asked why he would not seek the job since he desires giving something back to the country, Rufai stated that there are other areas in which he would be of greater service to Nigeria. “I was trained in Europe in youth development programmes and I even lecture club coaches at different levels. I have a lot to give and as such, I can't be tied down to just one job,” he stressed