Finidi George, the head coach of Enyimba in the Nigeria Premier Football League, has claimed that he is not concerned about gaining the Super Eagles post on permanent basis.
The Nigeria Football Federation announced the role of Super Eagles head coach vacant earlier this month, following the departure of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the team to second place in the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an announcement on its website inviting applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the position, was named Eagles interim coach for the international window, and the former winger won and lost.
In an interview with Modo TV, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
Finidi also admitted that his team paid dearly for their mistakes in their 2-0 defeat to Mali at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco on Tuesday.
“I think we made a few mistakes that cost us the match,” the 52-year-old tactician told Modo TV.
“It wasn’t a bad game, good intensity was exhibited and we created a couple of chances but failed to score. In a game like this when you make mistakes and fail to score you get punished but I was happy with the entire play.
“The formation wasn’t bad at all; this is a team that keeps the ball very well. Using two strikers helped us and forced them to play wide. We could have pressed a bit more but overall, we weren’t bad. We know football is all about victory but I am looking at other aspects.
“Not a bad performance, lost one, won one. We were not outplayed and that is a good thing. I think we did so well in the first (half) although I would have loved a different outcome in the second but the players performed well.”