Finidi prior to his appointment, spent 20 months as an assistant to former coach, José Peseiro and served as the interim coach
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former Nigerian winger, Finidi George has been appointed as the head coach of the Super Eagles by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The announcement came in a statement on Monday, with the NFF Board approving the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to hand over the reins to the 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Betis forward.
Finidi, who spent 20 months as an assistant to the outgoing José Santos Peseiro, had been serving as the interim coach after the Portuguese tactician’s departure following the Super Eagles’ impressive run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
During his interim tenure, he oversaw two friendly matches in Morocco, where the Super Eagles ended an 18-year winless streak against Ghana with a 2-1 victory before suffering a 0-2 loss to Mali
ALSO READ: Olympian, Yusuf Ali receives praise from colleagues, others over sports growth in Edo
“George, a member of the so-styled ‘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 the same year, won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals,” the NFF statement read
His 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.