Finidi’s Resignation: So Much To Ponder!

 ‘‘Ambition is the rocket engine that will take you wherever

                 you wish to arrive’’. Remez Sasson.

Since news filtered about the resignation of Super Eagles of Nigeria, Finidi George, several stories and videos have arisen from people close to the team revealing issues that probably contributed to Nigeria’s lackluster performance during their last two World Cup Qualifiers matches this month against South Africa and Benin Republic. These negative commentaries don’t do the peddlers any good. Every player and coaching staff must share in this blame and as professionals, they should know what is required of them to achieve good results, rather than washing their privates in the public!

I don’t mourn Finidi’s exit but salute his forthrightness because he like the players has much blame for their current situation in achieving whatever (if any) ambitions they have about qualifying Nigeria for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Finidi has been involved as coach of the Super Eagles and an employee of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), for almost two years. That he’s conversant with the mindset, sentiments, and nuances of these parties would be an understatement. His advantage as a former footballer who greatly excelled makes it obvious that she should have known what to expect in his recent upgrade to handle the national team. The stage during which he took over as coach was delicate enough for him to understand that he had no opportunity to make silly errors or make decisions that could put him in a precarious situation, but events until his retirement never showed he put these considerations into account!

Finidi George enjoys the benefits of having participated in the FIFA World Cup, won the African Nations Cup and the UEFA Cup. As a coach in the Nigerian Professional League, he led Enyimba International FC to two league victories and remains accomplished in every ramification. Very few of the current generation of Nigerian footballers can boast of any accomplishments comparable to Finidi; apart from their salaries which look extremely fat, when converted to the devalued Nigerian Naira. Whilst coaches take most blame when their teams perform badly, these players deserve to look at themselves in the mirror and acknowledge their shameful performances!

We have seen past Nigerian players, especially from the Finidi generation, commit their blood and sweat to making Nigeria happy. The Eagles 1994 team rose to become ranked by FIFA amongst the best 5 football-playing nations in the World and the fluidity of their play won global acclaim! Coach Clemence Westerhof cannot alone claim the credit for the exquisite displays of the Super Eagles, especially during their peak, 1993/94. The Keshi-led group of players also did their bit!

Apart from the probably retired captain Ahmed Musa and Kenneth Omeruo, none of these boys have participated in the FIFA World Cup, and taking away the recent accomplishments of Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, and Ademola Lookman, the rest remain naked with very little football honors to boast about. These boys must do the almost impossible by taking Nigeria and themselves to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and must agree amongst themselves to give Nigeria good football, blaming the coach always for their uninspiring performances is balderdash!

The Minister for Sports, Senator Ewan Eno deserves much commendation for giving critical attention to meeting the aspirations of sports-loving Nigerians, but we can still support our local content by replacing Finidi with another Nigerian coach who could be assisted by a credible expatriate coach (this was done by Coach Samson Siasia). This is very possible to achieve and we must do the utmost not to diminish the gains of our football development because of an avoidable slur!

 

How Far Can Finidi George Soar With The Super Eagles?

Two weeks ago the Nigerian Football Federation finally announced Finidi George as the replacement to erstwhile coach Jose Peseiro, whose contract was not renewed when it elapsed in February, after the 2024 African Nations Cup Competition, where Nigeria took the silver medal.

The Nigerian Super Eagles have for some time now endured some wobbly and flailing performance, especially in their style of play. Their inability to qualify for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup caused great frustration for Nigerian football fans, especially knowing that their then-foe for the ticket did not possess a better team to overwhelm the Nigerian team.

Finidi George is a much-known name in Nigerian football. He played as a right winger for a long time in the Nigerian local league for Sharks of Port-Harcourt, Calabar Rovers FC, and Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC, Owerri, then got into the Super Eagles, under Clemence Westerhof and soon joined the legendary Ajax Amsterdam that had some wonderful crop of players such as Captain Danny Blind, Goalkeeper Edward van der Sar, Kluivert, Mark Overmars et al, but he instantly got into the first eleven. With Ajax he won the European Champions League amongst several other titles, and also was part of the team that qualified Nigeria for its maiden World Cup in 1994, the same year they also won the African Nations Cup. Finidi, as he’s popularly called went further to ply his trade in Spain, with Real Betis and Mallorca FC, and in England with Ipswich Town FC.

Finidi is a fully certified coach and has bagged the highest coaching grades in the volatile European League, serving as a youth coach in Spain before his return to Nigeria. He returned from Europe to take a coaching job with Enyimba FC of Aba, a little over three years ago and has excelled twice by winning the Nigerian Professional Football League. This likely must have counted in his favor when he was chosen to serve as assistant to Peseiro during his two-year tenure. He would definitely know the team and the workings of his employer, the Nigerian Football Federation, very well to make it easy for him to settle down in his new job.

THE TASK BEFORE FINIDI GEORGE

With less than two months to the resumption of hostilities for the FIFA World Cup 2026 ticket, Finidi needs to hit the ground with blistering speed that would enable the Super Eagles to soar beyond its current position. He’s yet to appoint his assistants and has not publicly articulated his vision for Nigerian football. One expects that his experience as a youth team coach during his coaching exploits in Spain would also count greatly for him, but he still needs to be specific and deliberate on how he intends to transform Nigerian football beyond its present level. The talent pool of the Super Eagles is overwhelming and Nigerians don’t need to suffer watching the team, neither do we need to have our citizens dying of heart attacks watching the Super Eagles struggling against less endowed teams like we witnessed in Cote D’Ivoire. The team needs to play organized football that would make the players perform at their optimal level, rather than turning them to mediocre talents. Our star player, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen virtually used his willpower rather than the team cohesion to make an impression during the Cote D’Ivoire ANC 2024 and he paid dearly on his return to Italy. He got fatigued playing for a Nigerian team that had no style and this, Finidi, needs to change. It was during his era in the Super Eagles that Nigeria reached the apogee of its relevance in World Football and their creativity and style remain unrivaled by any Super Eagles team, thirty years after!

Whilst welcoming Finidi George to the Super Eagles job with open arms, it’s expected that he’d get the best support from his employers, build the best team right for his football philosophy which we expect to be fluid and progressive, and also the Nigerian Football Federation must set the right targets for him to serve as the veritable yardstick to judge his performances. Good luck Finidi!

 

SUPER EAGLES OF NIGERIA AND LESSONS FROM ABIDJAN

 

The Super Eagles of Nigeria narrowly lost 2-1 to the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire in the 34th AFCON Competition.  Several Nigerian football supporters felt a deep loss but in retrospect, the team exceeded the expectations of Nigerians by getting to the final of the tournament. For some, it was a good result for Nigeria and for many others, the result could have been better.

 

ASSESSING THE SUPER EAGLES AT AFCON

For the past two years, it has been an underwhelming performance for the Super Eagles in their matches. The team plays without a style, character, or purpose, leaving their matches boring and abysmal. Though they qualified for the 34th AFCON despite losing to minnows such as CAR, their records of losses and draws in friendly matches were mind-boggling. To further exacerbate the situation was the perennial errors in the back line, but specifically with goalkeeping. For a long period, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have been a great pain to watch, despite the large collection of Nigerian footballers across the World when Joe Peseiro took over; everyone expected that this journeyman could take Nigeria to paradise, and truly he did but at great tool to the mental health of most fans. Even at the 34^th AFCON, the Super Eagles performed far below their optimal level and despite the final result, Nigerian Football must do their utmost to get the right coach to take the team to a better level.

The capabilities of a coach to use the assets available to meet the desired mandate given to him remain the greatest yardstick by which they’re judged throughout their reign. Apart from match results, it’s also important for teams to create excitement for their supporters for herein lies the essence of every sport. Fortunately for Jose Peseiro, the outcome of the 34th AFCON competition counts in his favor but everyone would admit that the team played far below their potential. The players sacrificed beyond their physical capabilities and the spectators toiled to watch these matches due to formations that put unnecessary pressure on the team.

 

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE SUPER EAGLES AFTER AFCON

Nigerians look forward to the World Cup qualifiers and the next AFCON with positive vibes and expect the Nigerian Football Federation(NFF) to use the lessons of the 34th AFCON to rejig the coaching team to enable the team seamlessly achieve their desired goals. Stanley Bobo Nwabali has solved the goalkeeping conundrum for the moment and we must find a lasting solution to getting some creative playmakers to enable the Super Eagles to operate at full throttle. Frank Onyeka and Alhassan Yusuf, at different times, did their best as spoilers in the midfield but the team needs a better ball-distributing player; this was greatly lacking at the AFCON. Victor Osimhen barely used his hustling instincts to make himself relevant as he never got optimal services to excel and the same can be said about many other players.

The rebuild has started and this is the best time to upgrade to a better future for the Super Eagles. Congratulations Nigeria!

SUPER EAGLES OF NIGERIA ON THE RISE AGAIN!

 

Yesterday at the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, Nigeria's Super Eagles walloped the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon 2-0, at the AFCON 2023 Competition. This victory takes Nigeria to the quarter-final phase of the competition to play against the Palancas Negras of Angola. With this result, they have exceeded their performance in the last AFCON Competition.

Several things stand out from yesterday's performance of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. With the huge criticism that greeted their 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea, the players were said to have a meeting, wherein legendary captain Ahmed Musa, assured Nigerians of better performances in the subsequent matches. They beat hosts Cote d’Ivoire 1-0, Guinea Bissau 2-0, and Cameroon in the group of 16. They put up very solid performances in these games to register their resolve to ink their names on the sands of time in Nigeria's rich football history.  There's no doubt that the Eagles have landed!

 

THE RESURGENT SUPER EAGLES

Watching the entire team, from the elasticity of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lukeman, and Moses Simon, attacking and defending from the attack to Ola Aina, Calvin Bassey, Onyeka, and others attacking from the defense, cutting opposition passes, it's obvious that for any team to beat the Super Eagles in the 34th AFCON 2023 competition, they'd have to climb the Mount Everest within ninety minutes. This team has conceded just one goal in four matches and they look like a brick wall to break down. Their confidence has continued to increase in their successive matches and so is the team cohesion. Virtually every player in the team has proven to deserve his spot.

Senegal, the defending Champions and the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists, Morocco are yet to play their second-round matches and look the greatest threat to the Eagles quest but the optimism about their success is overwhelming. The Super Eagles’ collection of players is astounding and it would take extreme tact for any team to beat the Eagles if they continue with the level they've raised their game.  Several quality players have not been given a minute on the pitch, yet the Super Eagles glow with so much radiance.

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE REST OF THE AFCON

Watching the Palancas Negras beat Namibia gives an insight into how entertaining their quarter-final match with Nigeria would be. Coach Pedro Goncalves appears to have built a very solid team, anchored by the midfield creativity of their captain, Fredy, the attacking trickery of Gelson Dala, and Mabululu, and not to forget the defensive doggedness of Gaspar. The Angolan team appears a very strong unit and their results during this competition affirm this. Striker, Dala, has scored four goals, so far in this competition.  The Eagles team looks strong enough to tackle Angola, though the outcome could be determined by little details.

The results of matches at AFCON 2023 remain a true reflection of how much African football has transformed within a few decades. Like in the evolution of political states across the World, we have witnessed the rise of several Nations and the decadence of others. This is the excitement that makes sport a veritable ointment to remove pain and give excitement to its enthusiasts!