Finidi George has said if players of the Super Eagles can give 100 per cent they wouldn’t have a problem beating South Africa.
Finidi’s first official game for the Eagles will be against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in Uyo.
The Eagles hope to get their campaign back on track following disappointing draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
Speaking on Thursday during his media parley in Lagos, Finidi stated that with the form Eagles players are in, victory is certain.
“We know it’s a difficult game, we played against South Africa in the concluded AFCON and we know their capacity. Most of their players play in South Africa but we know if our players give that 100 percent that we see them do in Europe, we would not have problems winning that game.
“I believe with the form our players have and the way they are playing in Europe we will definitely have that form for those games. I think we are good to go and we just pray that we have that luck.”
After two games, the Eagles occupy Group C on two points while South Africa are second on three points.
5 Comments
Alway spewing rubbish. This team won’t qualify for the World Cup. The coach seems clueless. South Africa will teach Nigeria a footballing lesson over two legs.
If you can’t beat Lesotho and Zimbabwe you shut up and prepare
Don’t be silly @HenryR. Which SA Bafana will beat SE of Nigeria? You will see matured, efficient and better SE on display against SA on 7th June- only 2 weeks away.
And coach Finidi, its one of your duty to get 100% from your players. No buck passing!
Is finidi competent? I sense fear and panic with coach finidi already! Very capable and competent managers don’t talk about needing luck! Before finidi first official bros George finidi is already in panic mode wishing and praying for luck.. incompetent Nff Jamboree president gasua and amaju pinnick puppet president, we Nigeria fans are waiting for the six points against South Africa and benin republic… Not 4 points but 6…
But why is Finidi starting by changing the captain? That was the first error Oliseh made, too, stripping Mikel of the armband and handing it to Musa prematurely. It immediately caused disharmony in the team. Our livewire upfront then, Emenike retired, and our safe hands, Enyeama ditched the team.
That was the beginning of the free fall until Rohr, I think, steadied the ship again. Rohr ignored the seniority factor when he picked Elong as captain. He probably thought about leadership traits, consistency, commitment, and player quality.
Finidi trying to elevate Omeruo as captain from vice captain and relegate Ekong because, according to him. the order back then in his time was seniority might be a recipe for disaster in this modern time. Omeruo is not consistent, his quality is often suspect and he may not command as much respect from the other players.
Why fix it if it’s not broken? Did Omeruo complain? The team and fans are already used to Ekong as captain and Omeruo as vice-captain. What would be the outcome if you swapped things?
I don;t think Omeruo makes a good thing the few times he’s been handed the arm band. Someone needs to advise Finidi. He should leave things as they are at the moment and focus on beating his immediate opponents for now.
The good thing is both players are not available for the June matches. But Ekong may have got wind of the story. I hope that does not discourage him and force him to retire from the team. Let’s remember he was the last Afcon MVP and made the tournament 11, alongside Lookman.
Finidi will not succeed in this job because of the style of management he tends to adopt. As a captain of the team, Ekong needs to be consorted as a way forward and not be discarded in decision making process. Ekong deserves respect and acknowledgment judging the way he put himself on the line playing while critically injured and succeeded while doing so as a captain of the team (MVP) in the tournament. Telling the Nation why Ekong was not around would have fulfilled such obligations on the part of the coach.