Ex Nigerian international and former coach of Tanzania national football team, Emmanuel Amuneke was recently unveiled as the new Technical Manager of Heartland Football Club, Owerri, by no less a personality than the state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
Uzodimma, during the unveiling, informed Imolites that his government decided to look for a homegrown solution to the lingering problem of the club and that it took a strenuous effort to locate Amuneke at his base in Spain and convince him to stoop and accept to be the Technical Manager of the Naze Millionaires, as Heartland players and officials are fondly called.
To further buttress his seriousness in making sure the coach succeeds in the task of returning the darling football club of Imolites to its glorious days, the governor ordered the new Technical Manager to report directly to him. According to Governor, reason for this unfettered access to him was to bypass all the bureaucratic bottlenecks which sabotaged all the effort his government made in the past to resuscitate Heartland F.C.
He went further to express his commitment to ensure that Heartland was fully repositioned to take back its pride of place as one of the elite football clubs in Nigeria and the African continent, which he noted will bring joy back to millions of Imolites and fans of the club across the globe.
This singular action of appointing Amuneke has already started filling the Hearts of Imo football fans with joy. Amuneke is an ex-footballer who played at the highest level, in Spain with the almighty Barcelona FC and other clubs in other parts of Africa and Europe.
He was an indispensable member of the Super Eagles (the Nigeria senior national football team) during his playing days. He played 27 times for Nigeria, scoring nine goals. He was part of the team that participated at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, scoring against Bulgaria and Italy; also in that year, he helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, and was voted African Footballer of the Year.
Amunike played all of Nigeria’s games at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, scoring the winning goal in the final as the national team won the gold medal.
He has since transformed to a top coach who has excelled at top levels, including qualifying the Tanzanian national football team for the 2019 African cup of Nations, their first in 39 years, as well as leading the Nigerian Golden Eaglets (Nigeria under 17 football team) to win the under 17 world cup in 2015.
He had also served as assistant coach of the Nigeria senior national team at some points in his coaching career, but rejected the offer to serve as assistant to Finidi George during his infamous stint as Super Eagles coach which ended abysmally, within a space of five months.
He, Amunike was a clear favorite for the job, before Finidi was surprisingly appointed.
We at C-Advocate wish that all parties to this new beginning should play their parts diligently, to ensure that Governor Hope Uzodimma’s mandate to the new management, to ensure that the club, not only wins the Nigerian football league titles, but also a continental title in the nearest future.