Despite salvaging a point against South Africa in Cape Town on Wednesday night in the AFCON 2015 qualifiers, Nigeria’s coach, Stephen Keshi remains a worried man and unsure of his job with the team.
Keshi, while speaking to Reuters in South Africa after the game said he could not say for certain what his fate is with the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) as they are yet to finalise on his contract terms.
Keshi’s contract came to an end after the World Cup and had not been renewed by the Nigerian Football Federation.
But he agreed to take charge of the country’s first two matches in the African Nations Cup qualifying campaign; a surprise 3-2 home loss to Congo last Saturday, and a goalless draw with South Africa in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Asked about his future, Keshi told Reuters: “I’m not sure yet. I was just brought in to help manage these two games.
“We have finished them now, so we’ll see what happens. If we (he and the Nigerian federation) come to an agreement, yes I’ll stay. If no, I’ll depart. Let’s see how it turns out when I get home.”
Nigeria would next play Sudan twice in a row in October – home and away – in its bid to qualify for next year’s Nations Cup finals in Morocco. Eagles trail behind Congo (six points) and South Africa (four points) in the Group A standings after picking up only one point from their first two games.
The shock defeat by Congo in Calabar was the first time Nigeria had lost a competitive home game in 33 years.
But the 52-year-old Keshi, who lives in San Francisco, still has considerable currency in his home country after leading Nigeria to the Nations Cup title in 2013; achieving it as coach after captaining Nigeria to the same trophy in 1994 when he was still playing and taking the Super Eagles past the first round at the World Cup in Brazil.
But any decision on his future could be bogged down over the coming weeks, as the federation sets a date for elections after a disruptive two months that had seen two separate bids to unseat its leadership thwarted by the threat of FIFA sanctions.
Keshi blamed the uncertain atmosphere created by squabbling officials among the reasons for the poor start by Nigeria to its bid to defend Nations Cup title.

Keshi grows grey hair over his future