Finidi George issues four-word statement as Nigeria’s preparations for South Africa hit top gear

Nigeria head coach Finidi George has revealed in a short, four-worded statement that the Super Eagles are fully focused on the team’s objective ahead of their clash against South Africa, Soccernet.ng reports.

Nigeria are scheduled to trade tackles with the Bafana Bafana on Friday, June 7, at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in a matchday three clash of the qualifying series for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The objective before the Super Eagles is clear – the team must beat South Africa to overtake the Bafana Bafana and challenge Group C leaders Rwanda.

Preparations have not been as smooth as head coach Finidi George would have wanted with injuries and withdrawals ruling out star forward Victor Osimhen, Nathan Tella, and captain Williams Troost-Ekong among others.

Labour strike also forced eight stars to delay their arrival to camp, with Finidi only training with 15 of the 23 players he invited for the games on Monday.

However, Finidi received a major boost on Tuesday with the arrival of Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Frank Onyeka, and Paul Onuachu to the Super Eagles base.

Confident that his plans are finally coming together, the Super Eagles coach took to his X (formerly Twitter) account to tell fans that there is no deviating from the team’s primary target.

100% to the course 💪🏿 #SoarSuperEagles 🇳🇬 https://t.co/khb6gpwehe

— Finidi George (@FinidiGeorge_FG) June 4, 2024
“100% to the course,” Finidi wrote in a post quoting the Super Eagles training session, before adding the hashtag #SoarSuperEagles.

Finidi, then as interim coach, led the Super Eagles to beat Ghana 2-1 and lose to Mali 2-1 in friendly games in March.

The match against South Africa will be the first he handles since he was appointed the team’s head coach last month.