The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Finidi George as the new head coach of the Super Eagles.
NFF, in a statement released on Monday, said the 52-year-old former Real Betis and Ajax Amsterdam forward was given the reins of the nation’s senior men’s team after the NFF Board approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee the appointment.
Following the Super Eagles’ remarkable run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, the Super Eagles gaffer at the tournament, José Santos Peseiro, a Portuguese, stepped down, and Finidi George, who had worked as his assistant for 20 months, took over as temporary coach.
The former Super Eagles player, George, oversaw two friendly matches in Morocco last month 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, 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 said in the statement.
Considering George’s remarkable career, the NFF statement highlighted his achievements, which include “gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.”
According to the statement, one of his most unforgettable experiences was assisting the late Rashidi Yekini in scoring Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA, on June 19, 1994.
Within the next five weeks, the new Super Eagles manager’s primary responsibility will be to lead the side to victory in two key 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches 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.
