Nigeria football legend Segun Odegbami has applauded the appointment of Finidi George as the head coach of the Super Eagles, tagging it the ‘the best news out of African football', Soccernet.ng reports.
The Nigeria Football Federation may have made the best decision of the year in naming local boy Finidi Geroge as the successor to Portuguese tactician Jose Peseiro, opined Odegbami.
Odegbami has consistently called for the country's football administrators to stop their hiring of foreigners to handle the national teams and put their trust in home-grown coaches.
The 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner and top goalscorer can not hide his delight to see the NFF hand the Super Eagles job to one of the greatest wingers to ever wear the green-and-white kits.
Writing in his column in the Complete Sports, Odegbami said: “The best news out of African football is that Nigeria has finally bowed to the voices of reason to end the ugly, mental enslavement of coaches on the basis of the colour of their White skin, ahead of better experienced and better qualified local coaches.
“Finidi George, an experienced Nigerian ex-international player with the highest qualifications is the manager Nigeria needs at this time, a gentleman to the core, one commanding great admiration and respect from the players, administrators, and fans.”
Finidi's job is not going to be an easy one as the former AFC Ajax star has been tasked with qualifying Nigeria for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
However, Odegbami has handed Finidi the secret to enjoying success: inviting quality players to the national team at all times.
“His (Finidi's) success will be determined by the number of exceptionally-gifted players he is able to assemble at very short notice to play as close to a team as possible,” Odegbami wrote.
“To have several players come from a particular club or league often helps.
“But the most important ingredient is having a collection of extremely gifted players for all the positions. Nigeria is enroute to achieving that.”
Finidi will lead the Super Eagles against South Africa and the Benin Republic next month in crucial World Cup qualifiers.
