Samson Siasia

Samson Siasia (born 14 August 1967) is a Nigerian former football striker and the former head coach of the Nigerian Men's National football team (also known by their nickname The Super Eagles) from 2010 to October 2011.[1] He was reappointed in 2016.

Samson Siasia
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-08-14) 14 August 1967
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1984 Julius Berger
1985–1986 Flash Flamingoes
1987 El-Kanemi Warriors
1987–1993 Lokeren 151 (31)
1993–1995 Nantes 40 (4)
1995–1996 Tirsense 15 (0)
1996–1997 Al-Hilal
1997–1998 Perth Glory 22 (3)
1998–2000 Zafririm Holon 30 (12)
National team
1984–1999 Nigeria 51 (16)
Teams managed
2005–2007 Nigeria U-20
2007–2010 Nigeria U-23
2010–2011 Nigeria
2012– Durgapur FC
2016 Nigeria
2016 Nigeria U-23
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

On 16 August 2019, international governing body of football, FIFA banned Siasia from the game for life, following a match-fixing investigation. The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee stated that the former Nigerian coach pleaded guilty of having accepted “bribes in relation to the manipulation of matches in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics”.[2]

Playing career

Club career

At club level, Siasia most notably played for French team FC Nantes where he became league champion in 1994/95. He also played for Australian club Perth Glory with fellow Nigerian Peter Anosike, as well as in Belgium, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

International career

He played 51 international matches for Nigeria, in which he scored thirteen goals, and was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup[3] and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He was also a member of the Nigerian team that won bronze at 1992 African Nations Cup in Senegal. He participated in the National Team over a period of 11 years and was recognized in Nigeria as the third leading scorer for the National Team.

Honours

In November 2009, the main field at the Yenagoa Township Stadium was named in his honor.[4]

Coaching career

In 2005, Samson Siasia coached the under 20 team (Flying Eagles), taking them to the finals of both the 2005 Under-20 World Cup and the U-20 African Youth Championship. He won the African Youth Championship and advanced all the way to the world final – before losing to Argentina 2–1. He also assisted Augustine Eguavoen in coaching the national team.

Samson Siasia was appointed national U-23 coach in January 2007. In 2008, he coached the Nigerian Under-23 Olympic squad to the final against Argentina. In a superbly played series of matches, Nigeria's team earned the Olympic Silver Medals. Earlier in 2008, the U-23 team won the inaugural Intercontinental Cup in Malaysia. This team was composed entirely of domestic Nigerian players and won the Cup against many teams headed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In addition to his position as head coach of the Under 23 Olympic Eagles, he developed a youth academy in the capital city Abuja, called SiaOne Soccer Academy. On 17 March 2009, he was reappointed as the head coach of the under-20 team after the finished a disappointing 3rd in the 2009 African Youth Championship. He received a six-month contract to coach Heartland F.C. in July 2010.[5] On 4 November 2010, he was named as the national team coach to succeed Swedish Lars Lagerbäck. He was fired on 28 October 2011 for failing to take the Nigeria team to the 2012 African Nations Cup[6] in Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

Siasia was one of the five foreign managers auctioned in February 2012 for the new Bengal Premier League Soccer. His former national teammate, Jay-Jay Okocha, was bought by the same club from the five icon players up for auction. On 26 February 2016, he was named by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the Chief Coach of the Nigeria national football team, the Super Eagles, to be assisted by Salisu Yusuf, Emmanuel Amunike and Alloysius Agu after the resignation of Sunday Oliseh from the position.[6]

He returned to the U-23 post in 2015 and led Nigeria to the Rio Olympics.[7] In February 2017 he was one of a number of managers on the shortlist for the vacant Rwanda national team manager role.[8]

In April 2018 he was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job.[9]

In August 2019 he was handed a lifetime ban by FIFA related to match fixing.[10] He said he would appeal but was in no rush to do so.[11]

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References
  1. "Samson Siaisa fired as Nigeria coach". BBC Sport. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  2. "FIFA ban former Nigerian coach Siasia over match fixing". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
  4. http://allafrica.com/stories/200911091121.html Bayelsa UTD Boss Lauds Gov. Sylva (allAfrica.com)
  5. Siasia joins Heartland.
  6. Sunday Oliseh quits as Nigeria coach over contract violations, Oluwashina Okeleji, BBC, 26 February 2016
  7. "Siasia names Mikel, 17 others for Rio 2016". www.pulse.ng. 22 July 2016.
  8. Oluwashina Okeleji (14 February 2017). "Samson Siasia and Winfried Schafer on Rwanda coach shortlist". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  9. Oluwashina Okeleji (23 April 2018). "77 applicants for vacant Cameroon coaching position". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  10. "Former Nigeria great Samson Siasia handed life ban by Fifa". BBC Sport. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  11. Oluwashina Okeleji (17 August 2019). "Samson Siasia: Ex-Nigeria coach in no rush to appeal life ban". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
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