The Nigeria Football Federation would announce the assistants for Finidi George, the new Super Eagles coach, as soon as he makes his decisions.
Finidi was appointed as the team’s substantive coach on Monday, having previously served as a temporary coach following the departure of Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro.
He was hired ahead of former FIFA U-17 World Cup winner Emmanuel Amuneke and U.S. U-19 men’s team coach Michael Nsien, among other applicants.
Following his announcement, Amuneke, Nsien, and ex-international Daniel Amokachi were speculated to be Finidi’s potential assistant coaches, according to the NFF, although the organisation has denied this.
When asked about who and when the assistants would be appointed, NFF spokeswoman Ademola Olajire stated, “I have no idea. The coach will pick his assistants, and when he does, the NFF will announce.”
In a subsequent conversation with our correspondent following his appointment, Finidi confirmed that the appointments would come later.
“Na small, small,” he said. Meaning, ‘it’s one after the other’.
During his two-game interim spell, his lone assistance was goalie trainer Olatunji Baruwa.
Finidi is the Super Eagles’ 27th coach, having previously served as Peseiro’s assistant for 20 months. He was a member of Ivory Coast’s silver-winning team at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and served as interim captain of the squad during two friendly matches against Ghana and Mali in Morocco last month.
His team defeated Ghana 2-1 in the first game, snapping an 18-year losing record against the Black Stars, but lost 2-0 to Mali in the second.
The former Ajax player was part of the side that won the 1994 AFCON in Tunisia, and he also has 62 caps for Nigeria, including appearances in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals.
