- Photo caption: Super Eagles Head Coach, Finidi George
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint Ex. Super Eagles player, Finidi George as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles.
Prior to his appointment, George had been the Assistant to coach José Santos Peseiro for a year and eight months before Peseiro resigned from the position after securing a runner up position at last Africa Cup of Nations at Cote d’Ivoire 2023.
Recall that George was in charge of the Super Eagles in an interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco in March.
During the match, the Super Eagles defeated Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars.
The Nigerian team however lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.
About George Finidi
Finidi George was a member of the team 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 the USA the same year, won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals.
He also won gold, silver, and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2002 AFCON tournaments.
The 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Real Betis (Spain) forward, who made a scoring debut for the fatherland in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Burkina Faso at the National Stadium, Lagos on July 27, 1991, also featured for Calabar Rovers and Sharks FC in the domestic scene before heading to Europe.
He 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.
George had 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 October 8, 1993. The match eventually ended 1-1 and earned Nigeria a ticket to the finals in America.
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 the Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively, in a little over five weeks.
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