Tremendous Eagles interim head coach George Finidi has fired a warning to Ghana and Mali to count on powerful encounters with Nigeria once they commerce tackles over the subsequent week, Soccernet.ng reviews.
Designed as worldwide friendlies, Nigeria will face Ghana’s Blacks Stars on March twenty second on the Grand Stade de Marrakech in Morocco earlier than taking over Mali’s Eagles on the identical venue 4 days later.
Nonetheless, it’s by no means really a pleasant when Nigeria meet Ghana, as the 2 West African neighbours have been bitter rivals at each degree since taking part in their first worldwide video games within the Nineteen Fifties.
Curiously, the final time the Tremendous Eagles met the Black Stars, the Ghanaians got here out on high to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the expense of Nigeria.
Nigerians would need the Tremendous Eagles to defeat their ‘Jollof rivals’ in Morocco to assist ease among the ache of the World Cup miss.
That state of affairs might put an additional layer of stress on the shoulders of interim coach Finidi.
The previous AFC Ajax winger was assistant to Jose Peseiro for the previous 22 months, and he has been tasked with main the workforce for these friendlies following the departure of the Portuguese tactician.
Finidi desires to safe the Tremendous Eagles job completely and can see the video games in opposition to Ghana and Mali as his alternative to impress for a place that Peseiro tagged some of the troublesome jobs on this planet.
Nonetheless, Finidi didn’t look fazed after main the Tremendous Eagles for workforce coaching for the primary time on Tuesday night.
And the previous Nigeria worldwide has warned Ghana and Mali that his Tremendous Eagles will take the friendlies critically.
“Undoubtedly, as a coach, there’s a duty, however that’s what we do. Now we have to be calm, do your job, and make sure you do it correctly,” Finidi stated.
“You recognize Nigerians are watching; we need to make them proud. AFCON is gone; these are two video games which are very essential to Nigeria. We’ll take it critically and ensure to get the most effective out of those video games.”
Finidi at present serves because the supervisor of Enyimba FC, a workforce he led to win the NPFL title final season.