NFF desperate to keep Keshi

Cape Town - The Nigeria Football Federation's acting president, Mike Umeh, is confident that Stephen Keshi will stay on as coach of the national team despite strong links to the Bafana Bafana job.

There has been various reports in recent weeks suggesting SAFA had already agreed a deal with the Nigerian mentor but it now appears Keshi is second in line for the Bafana Bafana role.

The SuperSport website are reporting that Mike Umeh and the NFF want Keshi to stay.

“We (NFF) want Keshi to stay. We love him and everyone knows he did a fantastic job with the Super Eagles,” Umeh told supersport.com.

Keshi, who led Nigeria to the Round of 16 in Brazil, is out of contract after failing to agree a new deal with the NFF after the Soccer World Cup.

Umeh is determined that Nigeria keep a hold of Keshi and is hoping that all the speculation linking him to the Bafana Bafana role is nothing more than speculation. Umeh added that the NFF will leave no stone unturned to persuade Keshi to continue as coach of Nigeria.

SAFA are expected to announce the new coach of Bafana Bafana on Saturday.