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Togo ‘Sparrowhawks’ Coach Stephen Keshi Sacked By Togo Football Federation After Poor African Cup of Nations Showing

Submitted by Scott Harkness on Tue, 14/02/2006 - 19:24.

Togo ‘Sparrowhawks’ coach Stephen Keshi has been sacked by the Togo Football Federation (TFF). The TFF has sacked their national coach after the poor performance from the Togolese at the recent African Cup of Nations tournament, and after Keshi’s public rifts with players.

The TFF's decision was announced during a television programme on Monday with Federation officials saying that differences between Keshi and certain key players in the Sparrowhawks team in the run-up to the African Cup of Nations had forced them to take the decision.

Keshi, who captained Nigeria’s ‘Super Eagles’, achieved the unprecedented feat of managing to guide Togo to this summer's World Cup finals, winning their group ahead of African giants Senegal, and Zambia.

But the national team's first-round exit at the African Cup of Nations, where Keshi had a public row with their star player, and top striker, Arsenal’s Sheyi Adebayor, had caused key TFF officials to turn against him.

German coach Otto Pfister and Bora Milutinovic, the Serbian that managed the Nigeria team in the 1998 World Cup finals, are among the candidates in the running to succeed Stephen Keshi.

Pfister, who managed Ghana at the 1992 Nations Cup finals, has reportedly opened talks with TFF officials.

Togo have been drawn in Group G at the World Cup finals, alongside France, South Korea and Switzerland.


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