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Former Nigeria senior national team coach Finidi George says the players he fielded in the World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic were not at their best in both matches, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Finidi’s reign as head coach of the Nigerian team ended after two games, which were a 1-1 draw against South Africa and a 1-2 loss to Benin Republic, both in World Cup qualifiers, which saw the team drop to fifth place in their group.
This led to the departure of the coach who is now in charge of Rivers United, a team in the Nigerian Professional Football League. Three months after the defeat, the Nigerian team thrashed the same opponent 3-0 in Uyo on Saturday.
Reacting to the performance of the team now under interim coach Austine Eguavoen, Finidi explained that the current coach is fortunate to have the players at this stage of the season unlike when he was in charge when they had already finished the season and were coming for the games from their various holiday spots.
“I would have liked them to have played like that when I was the coach, but that didn’t happen and, given the result yesterday, I think they should have played very well. I am Nigerian and I wish the team the best, but my focus for now is not the Super Eagles,” Finidi said in a radio interview monitored by our editorial team.
“I am glad that they won the match if they had shown the same performance. I think we would not have beaten Benin Republic a month or two ago. But it is understandable because I took the team when they were on vacation.
“Some of the players came back from vacation for that match between South Africa and Benin. Football is played based on fitness and it is quite unfortunate that I met those players when they were already on vacation and you could see in those two matches that their fitness level was low compared to the match they played yesterday, where most of the players had played three or four matches in the season. So they came back very fresh and were able to give their all.”
He went further to lament that despite knowing that they will need time to reach full fitness, some of the players still did not resume soon enough for the coaches to improve their level before the game, leaving him with little or nothing to do about their fitness before the game.
“Of course, when the players come to the training camp two days before the game against South Africa, that’s when some players come from Dubai and other places. You can’t play at that high level when you come on holiday. It’s quite strange, but that was the situation.
“Any coach who had been in that situation would have had the same thing, because that is why I spoke of indiscipline. We already saw the Euros, where the players finished the league and went to the training camp. In our own situation, the players travel first, they have two, three weeks of vacation. Even if you are training, it is not going to be the same because you are eating, you are drinking and from Dubai and other places like Spain, people travel to Nigeria and even late.
“They didn’t come when they were supposed to. They even came late, three days before the match, so there was nothing I could do. We saw that in the match against South Africa and in the match against Benin Republic. So without the fitness you can’t play, no matter how good you are.
He concluded by saying that if the match against Benin that led to his dismissal had been played during the season, the result would definitely have been better and he would probably still be in charge of the team.
“It is a pity that we had to play that match when the league was already over and most of the players did not show up when they were supposed to. You cannot eat your cake and have it all so that was the result we got. This time I think the players are fit enough so we will definitely beat Benin Republic anytime if the players are fit.
“We have better quality players than Benin Republic. If it didn’t happen, then there was a reason for it. It is very clear to me now that the players were not fit enough and there was nothing I could do because if you come to the training camp two or three days before a World Cup qualifier, there is nothing a coach can do physically.
“You just manage them and make your tactics and see how far they can go in the game, but if you are not fit you cannot play with that high intensity and the result was noticeable. I think in the future the team will improve because the season is underway.
“If they have to play games during the season, they will definitely do well and win games. It is quite unfortunate, but that is the reality of my time at the Super Eagles. It is quite unfortunate that I had not picked the players during the season, we would have had different results and maybe I would still be there.”
