JUST IN: NFF appoints Finidi George as Super Eagles coach

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced the appointment of Finidi George as new Super Eagles head coach.

The Super Eagles have been without a permanent coach since Portuguese tactician, Jose Peseiro, left the job after the end of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in February.

However, George, who served as an assistant to Peseiro was named as interim manager and led the team in the last international break when the Super Eagles lost to Mali but defeated Ghana.

Meanwhile, the NFF had opened applications for interested coaches to apply for the job, and names like Emmanuel Amuneke and Michael Nsien were reported to be frontrunners for the job.

In a statement on Monday, the former Nigeria international has now been confirmed as the new permanent coach of the three-time African champions.

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 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.

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 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 27th July 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 19th June 1994.