Finidi George has described the Super Eagles’ performance as commendable despite losing to Mali in Tuesday’s friendly game in Marrakech, Morocco.
Goals from El Bilal Toure and Kamory Doumbia secured a 2-0 win for Mali.
It was a first win for the Malians against the Eagles since 1975.
The Eagles went into the game against Mali on the back of a 2-1 win against Ghana’s Black Stars on Friday.
Finidi made some changes in his line-up against Mali with the trio of Kenneth Omeruo, Raphael Onyedika and Jamilu Collins starting.
“This is a team that keeps the ball very well but if we had our injured strikers available, we would have changed the one on the pitch immediately,” Finidi said in his post-match.
“Losing two strikers forced us to play wide and as an aggressive team, we did all we could. And you know football is all about victory.
“Lost one and won one and we are not outplayed in the two matches gives me joy as a coach of the Super Eagles.
“I would have loved a different result in this game but that’s not the case if we look at the performance of the players, it’s commendable.”
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COMMENTS
FINIDI GEORGE cannot tinker with the super-eagles. The Nigeria team is a huge brand. We need a highly technical coach. Not just a high-profile coach. The coach needs to drop some inactive players and absorb active, skillful, intelligent, and mobile players who are educative enough to follow instructions. Also, those who can communicate to change formation support every department on the field of play.
Siasia and Amunike are intelligent coaches. But NFF has a civil service mentality, is corrupt, and is self-centered. It was a show of shame yesterday night.
THERE IS ONE THING I ALWAYS NOTICE ABOUT NIGERIA SUPER EAGLE TEAM.
WHAT IS THAT?????????
** IT IS VERY EASY TO MAKE RECORD FROM SUPER EAGLE.
FOR INSTANCE:
*** IN USA 94 W/CUP, WHEN EVERYBODY(Argentina, Bulgaria) ARE BEATING GREECE 4-0, 4-0, GREECE MAKE RECORD FROM NIGERIA BY LOSING 2-0 TO NIGERIA.
*** IN 2013 FIFA CONFEDERATION CUP, EVERYBODY ARE BEATING TAHITI 8-0, 8-0 WITHOUT CONSEDING GOAL, BUT SUPER EAGLE CONSEDED ONE GOAL(i.e 4-1) AGAINST TAHITI.
Commendable with no shot on target?
Funny guy, Finidi you are a legend as a player, but this coach thing? NO!
“Get us a local coach“
Some of you think Siasia is the best local coach for Super Eagles, but you’ve all forgotten he couldn’t qualify us for 2012 and 2017 Afcon. Being a good coach In the u20 and u23 team doesn’t mean you would be a good coach in the senior team. And to that eye Air peace CEO, go to court, because NFF would hire a foreign coach
Yeye air peace CEO*
No need for talks, Our CLUELESS NFF SHOULD GET AMUNEKE ON BOARD ASAP and let finidi assist amuneke, nsien can be a third assistant for starters! That nsien is tight good.. anything than this will mean Nigeria will be out of qualification for world Cup yet again because of Nff incompetency! A white oyibo coach is good but time is short to know our players before June! NFFJAMBOREE WE CAN C… we might frankly speaking not go to yet another world Cup because of that Hugely incompetent Nff… IT IS AMUNEKE TIME AND DESTINY, ANY MANIPULATION WILL BE ANOTHER DISASTER… THAT NIGERIA TEAM IS A 4-4-2 AND 4-2-3-1 TEAM ALTERNATIVELY AT BEST,.. we can also wait for siasia ban to be cleared and reward him with the Super Eagle job as thank you for his many victorious team he gave Nigeria. Amuneke to b assisted by finidi or wait for siasia… time is at disaster-class and disadvantage for a foreign coach to get up to speed. We now need a miracle to go to the world Cup again. Very incompetent NFF
The way you guys call out names like you 100% sure he will succeed.Because he won the under 17 tournament so you assume Amunike will have equal success with the senior team,I really don’t understand the overwhelming clamour for Amunike when most of his 94’ super eagles class aside Late Stephen Keshi have failed in making successes at previous assignments.
Our best chance of building a better team is having a foreign tactician.If we carry on with romanticising with local coaches,I’m afraid we could miss out on qualifications for both the World Cup and Afcon respectively!
The same clueless Amunike that couldn’t qualify us for the U-21 World Cup. The Aminike has been clubless for a year because no one would take a chance on him. This is who some want for our SE. Na was o.
Gernot Rohr should be brought back. That is the only guarantee to Super Eagles qualification.
Rohr should be brought back. Any other thing the NFF does at this point is just gambling.
Unless we are not really interested in going to the world cup, but if we are, this is not the time to experiment with Amuneke or Finidi or any other person. Rohr has been tested and arguably, trusted
Lol, No. Rohr’s time has passed. We need a fresh foreign coach.
Performance commendable result bad. Football is a results game. Finidi cannot be senior coach.
Nigeria is minus 4 points from 2 drawn matches whilst South Africa is minus from 1 loss. So, we need more points from our 2 matches against South Africa than them. At Afcon our match against them was tough, we won on penalty kicks.
Getting a foreign coach is sub optimal looking at the WC history and the last two Afcon. Ivory Coast won with a local coach, after sacking the foreign one mid way thru tourney. Senegal won with a local coach in 2022. In the WC, the best Nigeria achieved was the second round, by foreign and local coaches in 1994, 1998 and 2014. Morocco has best achievement for Africa with a local coach. England’s best performances as winners and semi finalists have been with English managers. No country has ever won the WC with a foreign senior coach or manager.
Time for a Nigerian coach. I prefer Amunike as his teams use the strength of our people. Westerhof did same, but it took 1 failed WC Qualifying and 2 unsuccessful but improving Afcon to get there in 1994. Having missed the last WC Nigeria must be at the next. The Sports Minister and even the President should talk sense to the NFF. Nigeria’s interests are paramount.
Everything foreign, we must groom our locals to manage our national teams, you all despise Naira and Kobo for dollar and cent and we are paying dearly for that since the eras of Generals Abacha and Ibrahim Babangida, nowhere can be better than your home.
I said it before when I read that Allen Enyeama said he would take NFF to court to prevent hiring a Foreign coach and I was wondering what he meant by going to court to make sure NFF appoints a local coach to handle Super Eagles affair. Hmmmmmm…Rubbish…..I said it before the game against Ghana, I said it after Ghana and before Mali games and I am saying it again. Non of the locals is ripe or good enough to coach Super Eagles, a top brand that deserves the best. If we insist on hiring any of these bunch of local coaches we are calling for disaster just like sitting on a keg of gun powder waiting to explode. I have not seen any local of Nigerian coach that is worth coaching Nigeria at this point…. Who are the Local coaches Allen Enyeama is advocating for?…Those that refuse to improve themselves?…How many of them are coaching at the moment even at the Local level?…Only Finidi George and even at that, Finidi George did not cover himself in glory with those 2 games against Ghana and Mali….. Do we hand the affairs of our dear Super Eagles to the likes of Eguavoen & Ladan Bosso( those two have failed so many times after so many opportunities), Amunike (who still needs to prove himself locally),Siasia who is under suspension, Sylvanus Okpala (why has he not been coaching since after assisting Keshi to win 2013 AFCON?), Amokachie, Salisu Yusuf, Sunday Oliseh (he was there but failed because of lack of man management quality). These people are obvious risk that we can not afford to take at this moment. Finidi George, maybe yes but still needs some tutelage under another foreign coach…Let Finidi start with CHAN Eagles. I still believe all of these local coaches are opportunists who have nothing to offer yet unless they prove themselves just like what Finidi is doing with Enyimba locally. They (ex players) are not helping themselves by sitting down doing nothing to advance their careers and only waiting on the sentiment of being a Nigerian coach. that is not enough….Not even at this time when we have few months to two crucial games in June with Bafana boys and Republic of Benin….If Allen Onyeama or whatever his name is, wants to help the National team with his money, he should continue to provide the logistics that he has been known for and leave the decision to contract a new coach to NFF and the Sports Ministry…..
These 2 games were auditions for Finidi to blow fans away and restore faith and confidence – not just in him, but – in indigenous coaches but he came well short.
His brand of football gave a glimpse into the mind of a coach unsure of his philosophy and practices. Ultimately the overall result was depressing despite the slim win against a poor Ghana.
Finidi has been at Eyimba since 2021 where would have introduced and honed a solid tactical approach and method. I wonder why he didn’t just “gamble” that method.
These two games only exposed flaws that can be further exploited by opponents in games to come.
It’s not up to me who coaches the Super Eagles by, even in these early days, the signs and signals are there that Finidi will struggle: struggle to carve out a team identity, struggle to create a compelling method, struggle to win over stakeholders and struggle to carry a large number of the fanbase along.
At Eyimba, a source told me on Facebook that Finidi had success and lifted the league title when he had free reigns to pick his own players and dictate the direction of the team. The minute Eyimba introduced a Director of Football role which eroded the freedoms Finidi used to enjoy, he started to struggle in the league.
This story is not meant to smear or sully Finidi in any way. However, if it’s true then it could provide a glimpse as to how Finidi will buckle in the face of pressure from some powerful stakeholders.
I am so sorry to write this but Finidi seems lightweight. He doesn’t exude charisma in his Press Conferences. His choice of words neither ignite passion nor arouse my excitement. The players who have come forward to drum up support for him lack conviction in what they are saying.
Finidi had one singular task: avoid defeats against Ghana and Mali to pave the way for a strong case in his favour but he fell short.
So, it’s a no brainer, the NFF now has to rethink his suitability for the role. If they decide to demote him then he made it easier for that outcome.
In your corner @Deo….
Thanks Olu,
Since Eyimba Club Chairman Nwankwo Kanu appointed Former Super Eagles midfielder Ifeanyi Ekwueme the club’s Sporting director in 2023, some people claim that this appointment has affected Finidi’s performance ever since.
If true, then Finidi should expect more uncomfortable dynamics in the Super Eagles. How will he cope?
Can you imagine this statement: “if we had our top strikers available we would have changed the one on the pitch instantly”? Which kind of coach issues such open condemnation of his player without considering the damaging effect this could have on Dessers?
Finidi is very mediocre indeed!
Clueless dumbo El finito chose the worst ever line-up in a decade when he had better players.
You think you are doing Iwobi and his uncle JJ a favor by denying Fisayo a well deserved opportunity. You have helped played Iwobi out of the starting 11.
You think you are doing Chukwueze’s clan like Kanu clan a favor by frustrating Tella.
You think you are oppressing a top level player Lookman to make a statement for underperforming Kelechi
You think the world is blind to what you are trying to do to Yusuf’s career to favor zero impact Onyedika.
Yusuf, Fisayo, Tella, and Lookman will form the mainstay of the Super Eagles.
Pesseiro didn’t give some players
minutes at AFCON because he is a foreigner with open mind.
There is a reason why Bruno, Awaziem never got a minute.There is a cogent reason why Yusuf was considered ahead
of underperforming Onyedika.
He has a genuine reason for keeping overhyped Kekechi where he belongs at AFCON. Even at his EFL club he dey chop bench well.
For now the top performers in the team are: Nwabali. Aina, Bassey, Ajayi, Ekong, Onyeka, Lookman, Osi, Awo, Ndidi, and Boni.
The nff should pick the best from foreign applicants to be joined by the best local applicant which I know for sure it’s not serial failure Amuneke and clueless Finito.
I believe in Oliseh because he didn’t do badly with the team the last time, he won the best coach award coaching in Holland. Oliseh is highly technical, reason why he gets selected on FIFA’s technical group.
Oliseh can not be influenced or compromised ill rather quit than
destroy his integrity.
Get a good foreign manager and get Oliseh as the coach. Ameobi/Olofin/Utaka/Egbo are also available.
Baba, did you watch the match yesterday? Chukwueze wasn’t even invited for the friendlies not to talk of playing. Ndidi sef was the one misplacing passes up and down yesterday
Well said O jare, If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had read my comment about some of these issues sometime in the past – haha
Guys like Iwobi, Omerua, Dessers, Onuachu, Onyedika must NEVER smell SE’s camping again.
Dudes like Iheanacho, Bruno and even Osayi (based on his last 2 most recent showings) should be permanent bench warmers and of this batch, maybe only Osayi should really have any kind of realistic chance to come off that bench at any time throughout the duration of any match
Finidi must be shown the door ASAP!
Finally, I actually would not mind seeing Oliseh given another crack at it and let’s see what he conjures up this time! If not then Mosimane? Ameobi? or another good foreigner and let’s draft in Shola to learn from that foreigner – in short groom him up to be the manager in the not too distant future Shikena.
Chukwueze wasn’t invited but it appears that he was keeping the slot for him by denying Tella.
It’s a clandestine plot.
All these jingoistic sentiments will not wash. Finidi is the best candidate, he will have to be the coach of the Super Eagles. Yesterday was just unlucky. The referee favoured Mali. Nigeria played well.
With Finidi, Nigeria will qualify for the world cup with 3 games to spare.
It’s time for Nigerians to lay sentiments aside and go for the best coach currently available. Whether foreign or local, black or white, the best available out there right now is the South African Man. Pitso Mosimane!
NFF should get him immediately.
He has the pedigree and technical know how. He has the results for all to see and he has the desire to coach Nigeria.
Give him a free hand and let him come with his assistants.
Nigeria should not make the same mistake of 3 years ago when we lost out on going to the world Cup.