Although the impressive record of indigenous Coach Shaibu Amodu in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers has redeemed the image of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Sani Lulu has yet to forget the embarrassment German Coach Berti Vogts, who he hired, brought to Nigeria. Lulu confessed that bringing Vogts to Nigeria was a costly blunder the NFF committed, and they paid dearly for it.
The football chief said they never thought the German would disappoint the nation following his rich credentials both as a footballer and coach. But they got the shock of their lives when the coach showed his true colour when the chips were down.
"We made a very big mistake by employing Berti Vogts," Lulu began. "We didn't have enough time to test him before the last Nations Cup in Ghana.
"We thought we could try him with that championship, we never knew he would become the biggest flop of the century. It's unfortunate we couldn't get the best of the German.
"Coach Amodu has proved himself since he took over from where the German stopped. In fact, we need to encourage our coaches, because they have the wherewithal to becoming the best we can have for our teams and elsewhere," he said.
Lulu said the NFF would henceforth monitor the formation of each of the national side to avert future disaster.
Speaking on how the country is preparing for the Under-17 World Cup, which Nigeria will host next year, Lulu said they had informed Henry Nwosu, the Eaglets' coach to move into the various football academies in the country and fish out promising players, who are good enough for the competition.
He also promised to shun federal character in selecting national team players. According to him, federal character had rubbished our football in many areas. He stated that he was ready to do away with anything that would draw his administration back.
Lulu, however, apologised to Nigerians for all the poor results that were recorded by our female national teams in recent time and also, for the Under-20's disgraceful outing in the last WAFU Championship in Delta State.
"We appeal to Nigerians to forgive us in this our transition session. We promise to make valuable amendments in every area of our endeavour," he assured.

Mistake nw realised.