African football is filled with tons of problems that has hindered the needed growth and development it deserves. In the area of coaching, only a few are well equipped and don’t possess any sound technical or tactical prowess.
One man changing the tide though is Felix Ifeanyi Nwosu. At just 29 years – an age to still be actively playing, he has taken the African coaching scene by surprise.
The Anambra State native had a playing career as a centre-back that saw him turn out for Nigerian giants Enugu Rangers and also Kenya’s most successful club Gor Mahia. Nwosu equally had stints with Ligi Ndogo, FC Talanta and Moyas FC, all in Kenya.
His playing career was unfortunately cut short at the age of 24 in 2013 due to a recurring knee injury. It was not going to be the end of the road because his club side then, Talanta, drafted him into the coaching crew. The club was able to finish second on the log, tied on the same points with eventual division champions Posta Rangers.
Somalia club, Heegan FC have 2 Nigerian players in their squad..Mohamed Zubairu & Samson Chukwu and coached by a Nigerian, Felix Nwosu
— Dumnodi Okonta (@mitchokonta) February 21, 2017
He was assistant coach at Nigerian women’s second tier side Beautiful Tours Angels of Abuja in 2015. He had a short stint there but was able to propel them from seventh to third on the log
Coach Nwosu became manager of Somali Premier League side Heegan FC in 2016 and led his team to third place in the Somali FA Cup. Due to insecurity and political unrest in the Horn of Africa nation, Felix returned home to Nigeria in 2017 to join youth academy, Ambassador Child Youth Club.
https://twitter.com/EmekaDennar/status/790823591055097856
He oversaw a total of 30 matches with the amateur side, winning 25 games, drawing four and losing just once. One of the highlights of his time there was beating his former side Rangers twice and holding FC Ifeanyi Ubah to a stalemate in Nnewi.
Felix holds a CAF coaching license as well as licenses from the KNVB in the Netherlands, TikiTaka Sweden, and KISE Kenya.
He was recently named among the 25 best young coaches in Africa out of a pool of more than 700 coaches at the 2018 Arsenal/WorldRemit “Future Stars” youth coaching programme.
The under 30 coach has the ambition to become a top coach in Africa that is eager to learn new things. This is one of the things that makes him stand out from other traditional coaches whose philosophy is based on a physical and defensive approach.
For Nwosu, he is keen on a philosophy that sees teams attack and has cited Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola as his coaching role model. He was nicked the “Guardiola of Somalia” while with Heegan FC due to similar approach with the famous Spanish tactician.
Felix Nwosu is a man on a mission and with what he’s done within a short space of time, considering his age, he’s certainly set to achieve much greater things in the near future and beyond.
