Former Nigeria and Borussia Dortmund forward, Victor Nosa Ikpeba has revealed that the Nigerian Football Federation had to settle for Finidi George in their search for a Super Eagles coach, Soccernet.ng reports.
Finidi George won the NPFL title with Enyimba last year, in what was his debut season as a coach, whilst working simultaneously with the national team as Jose Peseiro’s assistant.
Since the departure of the Portuguese tactician, the former Ajax winger was appointed as an interim coach to help oversee the Super Eagles during the March International break. Finidi coached Nigeria to a win against Ghana, but lost the plot against Mali in Morocco.
Yesterday, the NFF announced that Finidi will continue to lead the team, this time, permanently. His primary aim is to lead the Super Eagles to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Speaking on the Monday Night Football show on Super Sports, Ikpeba, who was among the technical committee that recommended Finidi, stated that the NFF settled for him because of financial constraint.
“Firstly, I want to congratulate Finidi George on his appointment as the Super Eagles coach. However, it was a difficult task because we initially wanted a foreign manager. However, we settled for Finidi because of the finance. It’s not like we don’t have confidence in our own coaches back home. We thought there should be continuity in the way Peseiro took the team to the final of the 2023 AFCON,” the former Borussia Dortmund man said in quotes revealed by Complete Sports.
Ikpeba reiterated that the Federation could have opted for a foreign coach, instead, they chose to side with the plea of the Nigerian populace who wanted a local coach.
“So, eventually, we were guided by the NFF President to look inward. It’s not that we can’t afford a foreign manager, but Nigerians back home want a Nigerian coach, and that is what we have now,” the former Monaco forward admitted.
Mr. George has just over a month to prepare his team as they’ll be playing two FIFA World Cup qualifying games against South Africa and Benin Republic in June.