Behold Jan Olof ‘Janne’ Andersson, the man rumoured to be new Super Eagles coach
Football wesite, ScoreNigeria, says former coach of Sweden, Jan Olof ‘Janne’ Andersson will be named the new coach of the Super Eagles with just about three weeks to Nigeria’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game against the Republic of Benin at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, South South of Nigeria.
Although top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, could not confirm the veracity of the report, Andersson, 61, was the head coach of the Sweden national team until recently.
According to Wikipedia, ‘Andersson coached Halmstads BK in the Swedish top tier league from 2004 to 2009. In 2010, he managed Örgryte in the second tier. In 2011, he was appointed as manager of IFK Norrköping, a team newly promoted to the top tier.
‘In 2015, Andersson led the team to win the Allsvenskan title. He was appointed manager of the Sweden national team in 2016. They qualified when he was manager for the 2018 World Cup and 2020 Euro, although unsuccessful in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Euro competitions.
‘His former playing career lasted 14 years between 1979 and 1993 with different Swedish clubs.
‘Andersson spent the majority of his playing career with Alets IK, but also briefly represented IS Halma and Laholms FK. A prolific goal scorer, he is Alet IK’s all-time highest goal scorer and scored five goals in his last-ever appearance for the club.’
The last Swede to coach the Super Eagles was Lars Lagerback, who took charge of the country’s team to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where Nigeria failed to go past the first round of the tournament.
Prior to the Nigeria appointment, Lagerback, like Andersson, also coached the national team of Sweden. He managed the Sweden national team from 1998 until 2009, leading Sweden to five consecutive tournaments. He resigned as manager in 2009, after Sweden failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Another Swede coach, Thomas Denerby, was also in charge of the Super Falcons to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
