The Nigeria Football Federation has announced the appointment of former Super Eagles winger Finidi George, as the new head coach of the nation’s senior men’s national team.
In a statement released on Monday, the NFF Board endorsed the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to entrust the leadership to the 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Betis forward.
Finidi George, who previously served as an assistant to the outgoing José Santos Peseiro for 20 months, assumed the role of interim coach following the departure of the Portuguese tactician after the Super Eagles’ impressive journey to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
During his interim stint, George led the team in two friendly matches held in Morocco last month. The team broke an 18-year winless streak against Ghana with a 2-1 victory but suffered a 0-2 loss 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 statement read.
Reflecting on his distinguished playing career, George’s accomplishments were highlighted in a statement, boasting of “gold, silver, and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2002 AFCON tournaments.”
Among George’s most cherished memories was his pivotal role in assisting Rashidi Yekini (may he rest in peace) in scoring Nigeria’s inaugural FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on June 19, 1994, noted the statement.
Now assuming the role of the new Super Eagles boss, his immediate focus will be steering the team to triumph in two pivotal 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and the Benin Republic, to be held in Uyo and Abidjan, respectively, over the next five weeks.
The NFF statement underscored the critical nature of these matches, affirming them as must-win encounters, given the Super Eagles’ current third-place standing in Group C of the African campaign, trailing behind Rwanda and South Africa.
