No deal: B’Faso shoves Keshi aside

The Burkina Faso Football Federation (FBF) has rejected Nigerian ex international, Stephen Keshi as coach of its national football team, the Stallions, and instead appointed Germany’s Gernot Rohr, as their new coach.
Keshi had been among the three persons shortlisted to take up the job to replace Belgian Paul Put who left the team after their Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) disappointment.
The FBF confirmed the new deal Wednesday with the 61-year-old Rohr.
Put led the side to the 2013 CAN final in South Africa where they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Nigeria.
The duration of Rohr’s contract was not revealed although it was confirmed he will also coach the Burkina Faso Olympic team.
He played for 17 seasons as a defender, including spells with Bayern Munich and Bordeaux, before moving into coaching in 1990.
Rohr led Bordeaux to the 1996 UEFA Cup final, where they were beaten by Bayern, and also coached at Nice, Young Boys, Ajaccio, Nantes and Tunisian side Etoile Sahel before his first national job at the helm of Gabon between 2010 and 2012.
His most recent posting was as coach of Niger between 2012 and 2014.
With the new development, Keshi now only has one job offer to choose from, which is the contract being offered by the Nigerian Football Federation, which he has been stalling on due to the possibility of clinching the Burkinabe job.
Before the announcement was made, Keshi had early said he could lead Burkina Faso to the World Cup just as he has done with Togo and Nigeria, if offered the job.
He said, “My ambitions remain the same from one national team to another. I don’t want to have the job just to have the job but to bring a real plus,” Keshi told Sidwaya Sport of Burkina Faso Tuesday.
“If I am chosen, by the grace of God, I first want to qualify Burkina Faso for the 2017 AFCON finals and why not for the next World Cup as I did with Togo.
-Ripples

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