Former Super Eagles winger Finidi George has been named by the Nigeria Football Federation as the senior men’s national team’s new head coach.
The 52-year-old former Real Betis and Ajax Amsterdam forward was given the reins after the NFF Board approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee, according to a statement released on Monday.
Following the Super Eagles’ remarkable run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, José Santos Peseiro, a Portuguese strategist, stepped down, and Finidi George, who had worked as his assistant for 20 months, took over as temporary coach.
George oversaw two friendly matches in Morocco last month while serving as interim manager. The team won 2-1 against Ghana to snap an 18-year winless drought, but then lost 0-2 to Mali. “George won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals.
He is a member of the so-called ‘Golden Generation,’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged as the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA that same year,” the NFF statement said. Relevant News
The statement praised George’s accomplishments during his lengthy playing career, highlighting his “gold, silver, and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2002 AFCON tournaments.”
George “assisted Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) to score Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on June 19, 1994,” according to the statement, was one of his most unforgettable experiences.
Within the following five weeks, the new Super Eagles manager’s primary responsibility will be to lead the side to victory in two pivotal 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, held in Uyo and Abidjan, respectively, against South Africa and the Benin Republic.
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,” the NFF stated in a statement. Makua Ubanagu