Finidi George: Nigeria Interim Coach Names His Coaching Inspiration

• Interim Nigeria boss Finidi George is eyeing the Nigeria head coach role
• The 52-year-old has coached the Super Eagles for two friendly games
• The AFCON winner has named a Spanish coach as his coaching inspiration

Nigeria interim coach, Finidi George, has named former Atletico Madrid coach, the late Luis Aragones, his coaching inspiration.

Finidi coached Nigeria during the March international break in an interim capacity after Jose Peseiro left the team after his contract ended.

The 52-year-old played for some of Europe's biggest clubs during his playing career. He moved to Ajax after leaving Nigeria. He was part of the team that famously won the 1995 Champions League under Louis Van Gaal, per Transfermarkt.

Finidi then joined Real Betis and Real Mallorca in Spain. He was coached by the late Luis Aragones, who also led Spain to the European championship in 2008. Aragones died in 2014 at 75.

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Former Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink also coached him at Betis.

“I’ve worked with so many coaches,” he responded when asked about his coaching inspiration, “…from the late Luis Aragones to [Louis] van Gaal, Guus Hiddink, [Javier] Clemente, [Clemens] Westerhof," via Complete Sports.

"Over the years, I’ve worked with these coaches, but I think it was the former Spanish coach, Aragones, that impacted me the most."

He picked up a few things from Aragones.

“Aragones’ way of managing players was fantastic because even those that were not playing were happy to be in the team. It is really difficult for a coach to achieve."

Whether George will become Nigeria's next permanent head coach remains to be seen. As interim coach, he coached the Super Eagles to their first win over Ghana since 2006 but suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mali.

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George wants to emulate Keshi

Sports Brief earlier reported on George expressing his desire to emulate Super Eagles icon Stephen Keshi if he becomes head coach.

Keshi won the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria as a player and the coach. The late Keshi won Nigeria's last AFCON title in 2013.

Why Nigeria lost to Mali

Sports Brief also reported that Super Eagles coach, Finidi, explained why Nigeria lost to Mali in their second friendly during the March international break.

The 52-year-old highlighted injuries to key players, which affected their approach against the Eagles.

George's team were forced to turn up in an unfamiliar formation without a recognised centre-forward.