George spoke about the reasons why he failed at the helm of the Nigerian national team

The year 2024 can hardly be called an easy one for the Nigerian national team, as the team has already had three specialists in charge during the calendar year. One of them is Finidi George, who has not won in his short stint at the helm of the Super Eagles. But he assures that there are reasons for this.

George, who was in charge of the Nigerian national team in the summer of 2024, assures that the main reason is lack of concentration among the players, which initially culminated in the delayed start of training camp:

‘I wanted us to open the camp a little earlier because we knew the season was over and the FA initially agreed but then changed its mind. I wanted the training camp to open on 26 May but they said that wasn't possible because some players had already gone on holiday, which was very strange to me.’

Then, George believes this translated into poor form from the players and the resulting lack of results:

‘Most of the players came into camp late, straight from holiday. This affected the team's readiness for the World Cup qualifiers. If you are out of shape at this level, regardless of tactics, you can't perform at your best.

Most of the players didn't show their best. The intensity in friendlies is often different from the intensity in crucial qualifiers,’ George said in a chat with SportsBoom.

Recall that former assistant Jose Peseiro took over the team in April 2024, but led Nigeria to no wins, drawing with South Africa (1-1) and losing to Benin (1-2) in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. George was then sent into retirement in June 2024.