THEY SMEARED MY NAME OVER EAGLES JOB

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Former Super Eagles assistant coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has reacted to what he termed “misleading reports in the media” after he applied to coach the national team.

Amuneke was a top contender for the Eagles job, but on Monday, he lost out to his former teammate George Finidi after the Nigeria Football Federation appointed the Enyimba coach as Jose Peseiro’s successor.

Prior to the NFF’s announcement, the media had been awash with reports that Amuneke had a frosty working relationship with officials of the NFF, particularly when he was in charge of the Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles.

The reports also alleged that he instigated a pay strike by the Flying Eagles players, which eventually cost them qualification for the 2017 U-20 AFCON.

Another report also accused Amuneke of unethical conduct, saying he was directly involved in the transfer of several of the Golden Eaglets players under him.

“They succeeded in smearing my name in the media because of the Eagles job,” Amuneke, a former African Player of The Year, said.

“They can continue with their propaganda, but I will remain disciplined. It’s not do-or-die job.

“All those allegations made in the media online because of the Eagles job are obviously not true, but those who recommended candidates for the job know I will not be easily bullied. I know there is still bad blood with these officials, but its fine.”

The 53-year-old, who led Tanzania to their first Africa Cup of Nations (the 2019 edition) since 1980, also coached Egyptian side Misr El-Makkasa.

He led Nigeria to the 2015 U-17 World Cup in Chile, where they emerged champions for a record fifth time.

As a player, he won Olympic gold in 1996, which came two years after scoring a brace that won Nigeria their second AFCON title.