“It is surprising that there is no African coach in Spanish professional football”

Emmanuel Amunike (12-25-1970, 49 years old; Obodo, Nigeria) has given an interview to AS in which he recounts the best episodes of his career as a footballer and his plans for the present and future, in his orientation as a coach. Wait for an opportunity to take over a Spanish team.

Why did you settle in Spain and since when have you lived in our country?

I met my wife while I played in Spain, first at Barça and then at Albacete, and after retiring in 2004 I settled permanently in Cantabria because my wife is Cantabrian and my children were also born here.

After retiring as a footballer in 2004, you started your coaching career, even becoming world champion in 2015 with Nigeria Under-17, in Chile. Your last team was El Makasa from Egypt, but you were only there for a short time, why?

When I took the team, in February, I was in a very difficult situation. We played two games, with two draws, and then the pandemic broke out and the league was suspended. The president suggested that I get more involved in the project as the club's sports director, but I told him that it was not what I had been signed for, and although he insisted, in the end we rescinded by mutual agreement and I returned to Spain with my family.

A few days ago, on BBC Sports Africa this phrase of yours was collected: “It is frustrating and disappointing that after playing and having trained as a coach in Spain, Africans are not considered to be able to train in the country.” Do you think there is racism in some spheres of football?

Look, I think we should all be treated the same, regardless of skin color, what should prevail is value. Soccer has changed a lot compared to the eighties and nineties. Now there are more opportunities to go to other countries to demonstrate your knowledge. I am Nigerian, but Spain is my home, my family is from here, I have studied and I have obtained the three levels of coach in Cantabria … but there is fear in listening to reality: one sees the First, Second or Second teams B and realizes that there is not a single African coach. I'm not saying that Spain is racist, but it gives food for thought. Nigeria have a German coach and he is treated like one of them. And someone had to give Guardiola or Luis Enrique an opportunity to prove their worth. I have proven experience and I hope that I get an opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge. I trust that one day I can continue doing interesting things.

Have you had offers from Spain?

No. I have a Spanish representative who has been looking at possibilities since 2015, but nothing has come out here. I would love to train in Spain, because their professional competitions are very strong and, from a personal point of view, I would like to be closer to my family.

Who has influenced you the most as a coach, Robson, Mourinho, Van Gaal or have you learned more from other coaches?

Everyone has influenced me, the ones you mentioned, although Van Gaal and I were never on the same line, and before that David McKay, who trained me at El Zamalek and trusted me when I was very young, and Queiroz, with whom I agreed at the Sporting de Portugal and always bet on me. I have tried to learn from all of them and assimilate the best of each one of them.

And what style is Amunike closest to, that of Guardiola, Mourinho, Simeone, Zidane …?

All are valid. The important thing is discipline, because without it it is difficult, and knowing what to do when you have the ball and when not. It is very important that there is communication and that the coach's message reaches the player.

Let's go back to your career as a footballer: in 1994 you made the leap to Europe from El Zamalek in Egypt to Duisburg in Germany, but it was fleeting, because you immediately landed at Sporting in Portugal, how was that situation?

In that year, I played a friendly match with the Nigerian national team against Duisburg, in the Netherlands, in preparation for the World Cup (in the United States, in 1994). Later, the president and the coach of the German club came to the hotel where we were concentrated to tell me in person that they wanted to sign me. It was my great opportunity to make the leap to Europe, but I told them that I had a contract with El Zamalek and that they should speak with the president. They traveled to Cairo, where it appears that they reached an agreement. I played the World Cup and, at the end, Sporting de Portugal became interested in me and they also talked to me. I watched over my interests and Sporting de Portugal was a better option, and I made it known to the president of El Zamalek. In the end, FIFA had to mediate and I ended up playing for Sporting, after about three months of training with the team, but I couldn't play until there was a resolution.

In August 1996 you were Olympic champion with the Nigerian national team, in Atlanta, and in that summer there were already contacts to be a Barcelona player, but the signing was frustrated twice, why?

My last game with Sporting was the Portuguese Super Cup against Porto, which we played at the Parc des Princes in Paris at the end of April 1996, and there I injured my knee. Once I recovered, I played the Olympic Games and, after the first negotiations, I went to Barcelona twice for the medical examination, but they detected a stroke on my knee and I had to return to Sporting.

Finally, you arrived at Camp Nou in December 1996. You signed for five seasons, but left the club at three and a half years, in June 2000. What was missing for you to succeed at Barça?

I had very bad luck with the injury and, in addition, they operated on me badly in Barcelona, ​​with an experiment that did not work out. This coupled with the fact that it was difficult for people to digest that there was an African in the team. That did not affect me because I did not fall from the sky, I already had a proven career as a footballer, but many people did not care about this. I tried to do the best I could, I went to the United States to recover, even on my own, but it couldn't be and the club was not interested either.

At Barça you met very great players. Which one did you admire the most?

It is true that I was lucky enough to share a dressing room with Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Guardiola, Stoichkov, some very young Xavi and Pujol, De la Peña, Pizzi, Luis Enrique, Amor, Nadal, Kluivert …, but I stay with Figo, not only because I met him at Sporting de Portugal and we had many experiences together, but because he is special.

In 2000, you left Barça and Figo went to Real Madrid. Did you imagine something? How did you experience that situation?

It didn't surprise me because you had to know why he left Barça, who also gave him a lot, for Madrid. Managers never take blame when things happen. Figo left, not because he was not happy, but because of the matter of his renewal with Barça. They did not offer him what Madrid and Florentino did.

Were you happy at Barça?

I've been happy in all the teams I've been in and at Barça, too, although I didn't play many games because of the bad luck I had with my injury, but I won titles, I got along well with all my teammates …

Do you think you were not valued enough as a footballer in Spain?

I don't know, but it doesn't affect me either. I have had the privilege of reaching high levels of football as a player.

You have always said that your relationship with Luis Enrique was formidable. When he was appointed coach, you said that he was ideal to coach Spain, why?

Not only because of his character and charisma, but also because of what he was as a footballer, which he can convey to the players, and the value he has shown at Celta, at Roma and, above all, at Barcelona. And now he is showing it in the National Team. He's a good guy and I'm very happy for him, as for Guardiola, for Pizzi …

The problem of racism is endemic in society and in football, but do you think it was more serious and obvious in your days as a footballer than now?

Insurance. Football is changing and in that sense steps are being taken by football institutions. The new generations have more information and are more global. The color of the skin matters less and less.

Africa has always been a great quarry of football, mainly of Europe, and it has been said for years that it is an emerging football. What do you need to finish exploding?

It was sad that at the World Cup in Russia all five African representatives fell in the group stage. The African player has his own style, which is based on power, on the physical, and we cannot lose it, if not keep it and improve it. What we have to do is improve the technical and tactical aspects. We have talent, but that alone does not get there, you have to have character, mentality, desire to succeed … And then the African federations have to help with organization from the grassroots since African clubs benefit more from the players who sell to Europe.

Thank you very much for attending us.

To you.