Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Finidi George as Head Coach of the Senior Men National Football Team, Super Eagles.
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The appointment made public in a statement on Monday was based on the recommendation of the Technical Development Committee of the Football Federation.
Finidi George spent 20 months as assistant TO José Santos Peseiro before the Portuguese voluntarily left the post following the accomplishment of Africa Cup of Nations runner-up position at Cote d’Ivoire 2023.
He took charge of the squad in interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco last month.
His squad edged Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.
George’s immediate task will be to guide the Super Eagles to victory in two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively, in a little over five weeks. The matches are must-win encounters, with the Super Eagles lagging behind in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.
Finidi George was a member of the National team that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia. He was also part of the team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year.
Finidi assisted Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) to score Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on 19thJune 1994.
George had actually scored the goal that took Nigeria to that FIFA World Cup debut, when he put Nigeria ahead against hosts Algeria in a crucial qualifier in Algiers on 8th October 1993. The match eventually ended 1-1 and earned Nigeria a ticket to the finals in America.
The 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Real Betis (Spain) forward, who made a scoring debut for fatherland in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Burkina Faso at the National Stadium, Lagos on 27th July 1991, also featured for Calabar Rovers and Sharks FC in the domestic scene before heading to Europe.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur