Barely one month after being unveiled as the 41st manager to handle the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, Finidi George has resigned.
Finidi confirmed his resignation to the press on Saturday after the paper sought to verify multiple reports suggesting he had thrown in the towel.
Finidi, who spent 20 months as assistant to coach José Santos Peseiro before the Portuguese voluntarily left the post following the conclusion of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, was first engaged in an interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco in April.
His squad edged Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game.
In April, Finidi was finally given the job, though the move was criticised as some felt he was not good enough for the big role.
Finidi’s critics were proved right as the Super Eagles failed to win either of their World Cup qualifying matches handled by the former Ajax star.
While the Eagles rescued a 1-1 draw against South Africa, they were stunned 2-1 by lowly rated Benin Republic in Abidjan.
Already, the Nigeria Football Federation has announced it would employ an expatriate technical adviser in the coming weeks, a move that probably triggered Finidi’s resignation.
Finidi was a member of the apt-styled ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged as the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in the USA the same year.
He won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals. He also won gold, silver, and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000, and 2002 AFCON tournaments.
Before taking the national team job, Finidi was in a charge of Enyimba International in the Nigeria Premier Football League.
He won the NPFL title in his second season with the People’s Elephant.
