By DAVID NGOBUA & OLUSOLA JIDE

After so much dilly-dallying, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Monday, April 29, announced the appointment of Finidi George, as the Super Eagles new Head Coach. The football federation said he was appointed based on the recommendation of its technical committee.

However, the appointment of the former Nigerian international was greeted with mixed feelings as some football stakeholders doubted his suitability for the top job.

Before now, George who had spent 20 months as assistant to José Santos Peseiro before the Portuguese voluntarily left the post following the accomplishment of Africa Cup of Nations runner-up position at Cote d’Ivoire 2023, took charge of the squad in interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco last month.

His squad edged Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game. Unfortunately, his short spell as Super Eagles interim coach was rocked by crisis as some of his players openly protested against his team selection.

However, the NFF has expressed confidence in the 1994 AFCON winner’s ability to lead the Super Eagles. And talking about leading the team to the next level, there is even no time for the coach to celebrate his appointment as he has his ‘baptism of fire’, which is the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against the Banyana Banyana of South Africa and the Squirrels of Benin Republic in June.

Trust Sports, therefore, takes a look at some of the tricky hurdles the Super Eagles new coach must scale to silence his critics.

2026 World Cup Qualifiers

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. With the Super Eagles lagging behind in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa, the two matches are must-win encounters. Anything short of the maximum points will spell doom for the country, if not immediately, but later in the qualifiers.

Since after their debut in 1994, the only time the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the World Cup was in 2006 and 2022 under indigenous coaches, Christian Chukwu, and Austin Eguavoen, and most Nigerians are yet to forgive these coaches who presided over the World Cup mishaps. This is what George will do everything humanly possible to avoid.

Mounting scepticism

On and off the pitch, the new coach has so much to do to convince his critics that he is qualified to lead the three-time African champions. Since he is not living in the moon, George himself knows that he is not the popular choice as most Nigerians wanted either a foreign coach or at least Emmanuel Amuneke to handle the senior national team.

A member of the NFF technical committee, Victor Ikpeba, was quoted as saying the NFF settled for the former Ajax Amsterdam star because the football federation does not have the money needed to pay for the services of a foreign coach.

However, his appointment has afforded him the opportunity to make his critics eat their words. And he can do this only by leading the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Of course, the NFF will stand by him, if he delivers the goods. If he is unable to prove his mettle, the federation will not hesitate to fire him for an expatriate coach in line with the wishes of some Nigerian football stakeholders.

NFF’s habitual indebtedness to coaches

The NFF has become notorious for the non-payment of its coaches, especially the indigenous coaches. Only recently, a septuagenarian and the first Nigerian to lift the AFCON trophy as captain, Christian Chukwu, said 19 years after, the NFF is yet to clear the backlog of his salaries. This disturbing revelation is coming at the time that George has taken charge of the Super Eagles and it should be a matter of concern for the new coach. He should be ready to deal with the problem of irregular payment of salaries and the alleged endless interference in his duties by his employers.

Super Eagles Players’ big ego

During his reign as Super Eagles interim coach, he reportedly fell out with some of the players following his refusal to play them in any of the two friendly matches in Morocco.

Even as friendly matches are usually test games, players like Sadiq Umar, Nathan Tella, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Alhassan Yusuf, Francis Uzoho and Olorunleke Ojo were not used at all. He made just two substitutions against Mali when he could make five and this action infuriated some of the players.

Following the defeat to Mali, there was a player consternation regarding the lack of or limited minutes, with Ademola Lookman reportedly upset about starting both games from the bench. Finidi, himself a former player, will know that to succeed in the job, he has to know how to massage the ego of the team’s top players.

Pressure from rival coaches

Finidi applied for the plum job alongside 1994 African Footballer of the Year, and former Tanzania coach, Emmanuel Amuneke and Portuguese Toni Conceicao, who led Cameroon to a third-place finish at the 2021 Nations Cup tournament on home soil.

Other notable applicants were Ndubuisi Egbo and the fast-rising Michael Nsien, coach of the United States Under-19s who won the hearts of many after he spoke about his strategy to improve the three-time African champions.

These coaches, especially the indigenous ones, particularly Amuneke who was touted by the media as the best man for the job, would be waiting in the wings to take up the mantle, if he fails.

Appointment of assistant coaches

Feelers from the NFF suggest he will be the one to recruit his assistants as the federation is said to have given him a free hand to do so. It is speculated that the former Ajax and Real Betis winger may likely settle for a foreign assistant coach.

However, former internationals, Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi, and Michael Nsien are among the names being mentioned to be part of the new technical crew.

Without a doubt, Finidi will be cracking his brain about who will give him the best technical support as he begins his new role.

Integration of home-based players

He began his football career in Nigeria, playing for three clubs; Calabar Rovers, Iwuanyanwu Nationale and Sharks football club before making his mark abroad. He is currently the coach of Enyimba and as such the pressure will be on him (Daily Trust)

Update news