By Esther Egbe
Two men who have distinguished themselves in the Nigeria football space, Ex-Super Eagles Winger, Emmanuel Amuneke as a player and coach winning several accolades along the way and Veteran Sports journalist, Sam Audu have both received recognition from the World Football governing body, FIFA as they were appointed by the organization into the FIFA 2018 World Cup Technical Study Group and Media Department respectively,National Daily learnt.
Emmanuel Amuneke during his playing day that saw him feature for Zamalek SC in Egypt, FC Barcelona was a nightmare for defender down the flanks and his performances saw him win the Africa Footballer of the Year award in 1994. After hanging his playing boot, he has had a successful coaching career so far already winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup with the Nigeria Golden Eagles in 2015 before joining Al Khartoum Watani in December and leading them to 4 wins and 2 draws in 9 officials matches before needing to quit following the club’s failures to meet financial obligations.
On the other hand, Sam Audu, Veteran Nigeria Sports Journalist has made a name for himself not by playing with his legs but rather his hands as he has covered and reported on the Nigeria football space for well over two decades, starting off as an editor for Complete Sports Newspapers before moving on to Kickoff Nigeria and Four Four Two Magazine in the same capacity. Audu was also the Nigeria U-20 National Team Media Officer to the World Cup in 2011 and 2013. He is currently the chief editor of Nigeria’s foremost football news website, www.scorenigeria.com.ng
Both men would be hoping to use the opportunity to open the door for more Nigerians to receive such recognition on a global level.