Former Golden Eaglets’ head coach, Nduka Ugbade, believes Finidi George has a good game plan for South Africa in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Recall that Nigeria will battle Bafana Bafana at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on June 7.
In a chat with Completesports.com, Ugbade noted that Finidi has the experience to achieve a positive result with the Super Eagles.
Read Also: 2026 WCQ: South Africa Coach Unveils 23-Man Squad For Super Eagles Clash
He, however, urged Nigerians to encourage him and not over criticise him whenever he makes mistakes.
“Finidi knows his plans already. Because he was with Peseiro. But then, his ways might be different for Peseiro in terms of approaching games.
“I know he is a very good coach, having seen the job he has done with Enyimba and the experiences he has gathered so far.
“At this point, what Finidi needs is encouragement and not criticism so that he will be able to make comfortable decisions.
“Having said that, it is important that the Super Eagles qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which we must first achieve by beating South Africa in Uyo. He must approach the game with a winning formula.”
10 Comments
Wetin we no go see for this obodo Naija….A failure who can not win winnable games at the kindergarten level advising….
Hmmm….biko advice him o. Advice that coach that says tactics don not matter in football….all that matters is that the players must know when to attack and when to defend.
The vociferous and reoccurring plea campaign for support for Finidi is a indication of the depth of confidence (or lack of it) that both his employers and stakeholders have in his capacity to handle this job.
May God see us through.
We are back to the Era of fasting and prayers to qualify for anything.
Na Failure Formula he for use before? The whole thing is becoming a parody. There is a noticeable sea-change in how things are done in the Super Eagles.
Olawoyin is a fabulous player, someone I actually debated with Dr Drey around 2020 to be invited to the Super Eagles when he was still homebase.
But, as replacement for Tella, are you saying we can’t unveil a marquee player?
I watched the interview Dr Drey alluded to above in which Finidi’s responses knocked me down with a feather!
What is your philosophy? No coherent response.
What is your approach? So long as our players can perform the same way they do for their clubs.
I am not impressed at all to be honest.
But, but, perhaps Finito is cooking a delicious meal with unattractive ingredients. It is too early to write them off.
But, there is a distinct lack of elegance and poise in the way this appointment is playing out.
Hopefully, the reverse will be the case on the pitch after Godwin Obaje, Sani Sulaiman and Joseph Atule help Nigeria qualify for the world cup.
Hahahahaha….2020 till now is 4 years…..you indeed have a strong memory.
Indeed, He was a regular fixture in any of our homebased selections while he was one, but was never fantastic….not even close. He was the regular all endeavour, no end-product sort of player, typical of most homebased payers. A “what you ordered vs what you get” Anayo Iwuala of some sort.
Let’s hope this Olawoyin guy has developed in 4 years to be a really fantastic player in truth.
But to be more fantastic than a Chidera Ejuke, or a Chuba Akpom….? I doubt it.
I would even have prefered a Henry Onyekuru re-call or Godwin Saviour who scored a banner of a goal on Monday for Al-Ahkdoud in the Saudi League.
But as they say in local parlance, wetin be my own…?!
Nigeria yi, ti gbogbo wa ni.
Ko ma gbodo baje!
Obaje ke? Konibaje fun wa ooo!
My eye dey pain me abi na complete sports rewrite or edit the headline? I be see “winning formula” before oh.
I am not even afraid of RSA but Rwanda! I hope for our sake their results are flash in the pan. It is bad enough southern African teams are many in our group.
Twice that we failed to qualify for the wc, it was local coaches as the head coach. I know someone will say what about Keshi? The answer is which of these present indigenous coaches can equal keshi coaching credentials.
The disgusting part is that we now have an inept fa. If Gauso knew it is this complain of lack of fund story that he is going to be telling us, he shouldn’t have contested for the position of the fa President. Afterwards, he was part of the previous dispensation and he knew the situation. In this age and era where football is a lucrative business someone is telling us all these cook and boom story. Where is the $4m given to us as silver winning team in Afcon? It is clear that if any of this politicians do become the president of Real Madrid one of the richest club, the club will run bankrupt in one year.
Honestly without a doubt we need a foreign coach, foreign fa president, foreign minister and a foreign president in this country
@Mercy, you made a valid point my brother, that’s exactly what we need, foreign everything, bcos I don’t know why you will put people at the herm of affair and it will be worst than not having anybody there, and I mean it, it will be better not to have anybody there. One, at least you’re guaranteed that nobody will be giving you false up and be spending money that doesn’t belong to his family. And this believe me this statement is correct 100%. If you doubt this statement go and ask Olympic team of 96. That team was able to win gold bcos the Nigeria football house was not in order, even the country was not in order and the players realize they got only themselves and they went all out. Footballers were driving themselves, at that time no money for NFF to share that time and Olympic team of that year made the highest sacrifice to win the gold medal we still talk about till today.
So, what I’m saying is no money to share for NFF and it made them not to be able to destabilize the team
The nff thinks everyone has run out of memory. Keshi was employed at a point the natuonal team was at its lowest level. He had enough time to set-up camping for HB, took them to CHAN where they won a medal. During this time he was able to evaluate the good ones, mixed them with pros in friendly matches to boost their confidence before integrating them into the main team. The league was even better at that time. There is no point if not for corruption or sharing $ sake to invite HB without exposure to the main team.
Looking at the players invitation, it lacks transparency and it’s filled with ineptitude.
Defenders:
Balogun for Awaziem!!
better than all the CDs in a combination of performance for Super Eagles, experience and current form. Despite over 4 years in the team, Awaziem is yet to prove he belongs.
Injured and inactive player invitation..
Iheanacho played 18mins of his last 4 matches for his EFL club. Chukwueze is yet to prove he is a national team material despite over 4years involvement. Besides, he’s still.injured and has not played a single mins in his club last 4 matches, same as Onyeka.
No sane coach will select Onuachu and Moffi ahead of Awo under normal circumstances.
Osi, Awo, Boni, Moffi, and Onuachu all proved their mettle in the Jupiter league but among these only Osi and Awo have so far been able to show-up in two of the top5 leagues creating records. Boni and Moffi are on the same path. But Onuachu failed, he created miserable records of zero goal in EPL.
Come to national teams, in terms of goal contribution per mins or match involvement for the Super Eagles, Awo has performed better than Onuachu, Moffi, and Boni
The only striker that can compete with Osi is Awo. Like Osi, he’s got speed, hold-up, skills, and strength. Though Osi is better at nodding.
We can only pray for the team to win. Finidi is not helping the situation. He had every opportunity to try new players in the last friendly.
The deserving players in the current list are the GKs, Bassey,Samuel, Ndidi, Lookman (Tested and proven)
Onyedika, Yusuf (improving)
Bahiru, Olawoyin z(capable, untested)
Awaziem, Onuachu, Iwobi, Moffi (unconvincing in recent matches still need to prove after over 4yrs of being in the team).
No sane coach will select Awaziem and Onuachu ahead of reliable ones like Balogun and Awo.
I recommend Finidi to play with 3-5-2 as a defensive and offensive formula for Super Eagles versus Bafana Bafana the line-up as follows: Nwabili- Ajayi,Tanimu,Bassey-Osayei Samuel,Kenneth Igboke,Ndidi,Onyadika,Iwobi-Lookman,Moffi; I selected Moffi than other attacker cause he has strong peneteration mentality which will dismantle Bafana Bafana defence…