Niger: A Petkovic assistant becomes the new coach!

The Nigerien Football Federation will reveal today the identity of its next coach, leaving as a hint, an Algerian flag...

The Mena, the name of the Niger national team, is set to welcome a new coach today, just before the start of the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place next summer in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The federation has identified a successor to Cheick Omar Diabaté and he is reportedly from Algeria, according to sources we have consulted. Even better, he was part of Vladimir Petkovic's staff during the last World Cup.

It is now certain that the coach in question is Nabil Neghiz, 58 years old, the second assistant to Petkovic since February 2024 and who previously served as an assistant to Christian Gourcuff between 2014 and 2016, then to Milovan Rajevac, after having taken charge of the team on an interim basis during a match against Seychelles.

Originally from Jijel, he began his career in his region with Kaous, Collo, and then JS Djijel before managing several clubs in the Algerian top division, including MCA, and has had several experiences abroad, notably in Morocco, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

Niger, for its part, has not participated in the Africa Cup of Nations since 2013. In the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, it finds itself in Group A, alongside Morocco, Gabon, and Lesotho.

DZfoot