'I still have a contract with the Super Eagles' — Salisu Yusuf brags despite U-23 disaster

Flying Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf has doubled down despite his side failing to qualify for the Olympics, saying he will remain the coach of Nigeria's U-23 team. 

The 61-year-old tactician saw his side crash out of Olympic qualifying after losing to Guinea, and he has now brushed aside talk of his sacking, saying he will continue as coach of the U-23 and assistant coach of the Super Eagles. 

Salisu's team failed to win in Abuja before they went on to suffer a 2-0 defeat to their rivals in the reverse fixture, flushing down their Olympic dreams.  

The defeat meant the Super Eagles have failed to qualify for the competitors they won gold in during the 1996 edition, but the manager of the current 'dream team’ has backed away from backing down.  

Salisu said he will always be a coach, and he is fit to continue in the role, so he will not be quitting.  

He explained that he still had a contract with the Super Eagles as an assistant coach, suggesting he would not be leaving that role either.  

"I am a coach, and I will always be a coach as long as I am fit to work,” Salisu said per SportVilleNaija's Twitter.

“I have a definition with the side (U23), but I still have a contract with the Super Eagles as an assistant coach."

Nigeria’s U23 team will play no part in the men’s football event of next year’s Olympics after they were knocked out of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by Guinea, as we reported previously.

The Olympic Eagles had played to a goalless draw in the first leg at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, but they fell to a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in Morocco on Tuesday night. 

Nigeria had reached the final qualifying stage by beating Tanzania 2-1 on aggregate after playing a 1-1 draw in Dar es Salaam before they beat the same team 2-0 at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan