Has Finidi George done enough to be Super Eagles coach after Ghana and Mali games?

1994 AFCON winner Finidi George was tasked with the responsibility to take charge of the Super Eagles for the friendly matches against Ghana and Mali respectively as interim coach.

It was a perfect audition for the former Ajax forward who has thrown his hat in the ring for the substantive coach position following the departure of José Peseiro.

The Super Eagles defeated Ghana 2-1 with a performance that got a large base of the Nigerian football fraternity wax lyrical about George.

The 2023 AFCON finalist outfoxed the Black Stars particularly in the first half, restrained  them from creating any clear cut chance, pressed higher up and dominated the half which was orchestrated by the trio of Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka and Alex Iwobi.

The second half wasn't as impressive as the first as the Black Stars grew into the game even with a man sent off but the Super Eagles would go on to score the second goal after a brilliant build up that was rarely seen under Peseiro.

Despite conceding a late penalty, there was a large consensus that the team fared well against their fiercest rivals.

They couldn't replicate the same performance against Mali, played without any sort of urgency or purposefulness that was seen against the Black Stars.

In two games, we were able to see what the team could look like under the Enyimba international gaffer but the truth be told, an assessment of a coach based on two matches will be myopic, particularly in the instant case

Not only because of the short period but also due to some prevailing conditions like injury to key players which could have affected the performances of the team.

Thus, the Nigeria Football Federation would be wise enough to look beyond these two games to determine if George deserves to be the substantive coach of the Super Eagles.
    
Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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