The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have confirmed the appointment of Enyimba head coach Finidi George as the substantive head coach of the Super Eagles, www.aclsports.com reports.
Finidi, who was handed the role on interim capacity for the post-AFCON friendlies against Ghana and Mali, will now take charge of the side on permanent basis as announced by the nation’s Football governing body on Monday.
The 53-year-old, who spent 20 months as assistant to erstwhile handler José Santos Peseiro, has now been saddled with the responsibility of getting Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign back on track following a poor start.
The Board of the NFF approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to appoint the former winger as the new head of the country’s men senior national team.
George, who won the 1994 AFCON with the Super Eagles, made 62 appearances 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.
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After a wonderful playing career, the 53-year-old went into management and did become Enyimba’s head coach in 2021. After an average first season in the NPFL, Finito, as he is fondly called, led the Aba side to a record ninth topflight title in his second season.
Meanwhile, the NFF statement did not state the duration of Finidi’ s contract as well as the other members of the technical crew. It is believed that a position will be reached and communication will be done by the body before the forthcoming international games in June.
Nigeria will face South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively. The two matches are quite crucial as the 2023 AFCON finalists are currently third in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.
