Nigeria’s Super Eagles appoint Finidi George as new head coach
Ex Nigerian winger Finidi George has been named the new head coach of the country’s senior men’s national team. The announcement, which came on Monday, was the result of approval from the NFF Board, which supported the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee.
George previously served as an assistant to the outgoing coach, José Santos Peseiro, for 20 months. Following Peseiro’s departure after the Super Eagles’ impressive run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, George took over as interim coach.
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During his interim tenure, the team achieved a historic 2-1 victory against Ghana, ending an 18-year winless streak. However, they suffered a 2-0 loss to Mali in friendly matches held in Morocco last month.
The NFF’s statement praised George as a member of the renowned ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia and represented Nigeria in the FIFA World Cup finals in the same year.
George earned 62 caps for Nigeria and played crucial roles in various tournaments, winning gold, silver, and bronze medals in the AFCON tournaments of 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2002.
One of George’s most memorable achievements was assisting Rashidi Yekini in scoring Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA, on June 19, 1994.
As the new head coach of the Super Eagles, George faces the immediate challenge of leading the team to victory in two crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin.
