Finidi George named new head coach of the Super Eagles

April 29, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

The Nigerian Football Federation has appointed former Super Eagles winger Finidi George as the new head coach of the country’s senior men’s team.

The announcement came in a statement on Monday, when the NFF Board approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to hand the reins to the 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Betis striker.

Finidi George, who spent 20 months as assistant to the outgoing José Santos Peseiro, had served as interim coach following the Portuguese tactician’s departure following the Super Eagles’ impressive run to the 2023 African Cup of Nations final in Ivory Coast. Ivory.

During his interim tenure, George oversaw two friendly matches in Morocco last month, where the team ended an 18-year winless streak against Ghana with a 2-1 win before suffering a 0-2 defeat to Mali.

“George, a member of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia and emerged as the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in the United States that same year, he won 62 caps for Nigeria, including in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals,” the NFF statement read.

Reflecting on his illustrious playing career, the statement highlighted George’s achievements, which include “gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.”

One of George’s most memorable moments came when he “helped Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) score Nigeria’s first goal in the FIFA World Cup against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on June 19, 1994 “, notes the statement.

The immediate task of the new Super Eagles boss will be to guide the team to victory in two crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively within the next five weeks.

The NFF statement emphasized that “matches are must-win encounters, with the Super Eagles trailing in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.”