The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Nigerian ace winger Finidi George as the new head coach of the nation’s senior men’s national team, Super Eagles.
The announcement was contained in a press statement issued yesterday by the NFF director communication, Mr Ademola Olajire, saying the NFF Board approved the recommendation of its technical and development committee to hand over the reins to the 52-year-old former Nigerian international and Enyimba head coach.
George, who spent 20 months as an assistant to immediate past handler of the Super Eagles, José Santos Peseiro, had been serving as the interim coach after the Portuguese tactician’s departure following the Super Eagles’ impressive run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
During his interim tenure, George oversaw two friendly matches in Morocco last month, where the team ended an 18-year winless streak against Ghana with a 2-1 victory before suffering a 0-2 loss to Mali.
George’s immediate task as Super Eagles head coach is to guide the team 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 was a member of Nigeria’s ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged the second most entertaining football team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year.
He 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.
Reflecting on his illustrious playing career, the NFF statement highlighted George’s achievements to include “gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.
