Samson Siasia

Samson Siasia (born 14 August 1967) is a Nigerian former football striker and the former head coach of the Nigerian Men National football team (The Super Eagles) from 2010 to October 2011. He was reappointed in 2016.

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 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.

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

• African Cup of Nations:
  • 1994
• Ligue 1:
  • 1994–95
• U-23 Africa Cup of Nations:
  • 2015

• http://allafrica.com/stories/200911091121.html Bayelsa UTD Boss Lauds Gov. Sylva (allAfrica.com)

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 on 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 fine team was composed entirely of domestic Nigerian players and won the Cup against many teams headed for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. 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. 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 in Gabon & Equatorial Guinea.

Siasia was one of the five foreign managers auctioned in Feb 2012 for the new Bengal Premier League Soccer. His former national team mate, Jay-Jay Okocha, was bought by the same club from the five icon players up for auction. On the 26th of 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.

• Coach of the Nigerian Olympic Soccer team for Rio 2016 that won the Bronze medal after beating Honduras in the third place match
• Samson Siasia was the Coach of Nigerian Under-23 Team (Dream Team VI) that won the 2015 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal - thereby qualifying Nigeria for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• Samson Siasia was the coach of the Nigerian Olympics Team(Dream Team IV), who won a silver medal for Nigeria, losing to Argentina in the finals by a lone goal.
• Qualified Nigeria U-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. His team reached the final.
• Nigeria's U-23 team win inaugural Intercontinental Cup in Malaysia (May 2008).
• Appointed National U-23 Coach of Nigeria in 2007.
• Led Nigeria to the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Youth Championship final in the Netherlands (finished second)
• Qualified Nigeria U-20 team for the U-20 World Youth Championship 2005
• Coached Nigeria U-20 team to win the U-20 African Youth Championship 2005 in Benin Republic.
• Appointed National U-20 Coach of Nigeria 2004.
• Served as Assistant Coach to the Nigerian National Football team from 2004–2005.
• Coached Youth team in United States to Georgia State finals and National ranking 2003–04
• Hired as Heartland FC Technical Adviser on July 2010.
• Appointed national head coach of the Nigeria national football team on 4 November 2010.
• Led Nigeria to a 4–1 victory over Argentina.
• Failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.