Patrick Pascal Urges Super Eagles Fans to Be Patient Amid Finidi George’s Rough Start

Patrick Pascal Urges Super Eagles Fans to Be Patient Amid Finidi George’s Rough Start

Ero Samson
updated at June 12, 2024 at 12:20 PM
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Zimbabwe
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  • Finidi George has experienced an underwhelming start to his reign as manager of the Super Eagles of Nigeria
  • The 53-year-old failed to secure a victory in the qualification fixtures against South Africa and Benin Republic
  • Team coordinator of the Super Eagles, Patrick Pascal, has urged for calm among fans following the challenging results

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Finidi George commenced his tenure as manager of the Super Eagles of Nigeria with a lacklustre draw against South Africa, followed shortly by a surprise defeat against Benin Republic.

The 53-year-old, who has been a polarising figure across the Nigerian footballing community since his appointment as manager, did little to cover himself in glory in both fixtures.

What has since followed is a clamour from stakeholders of the Nigerian team for the sacking of the Super Eagles coach.

Nigeria, Super Eagles, NFF, Finidi George, Benin Republic, FIFA World Cup qualification
Super Eagles coach, Finidi George, sings the Nigerian anthem during the FIFA qualifier against the Republic of Benin. Image: Issouf Sanogo.
Source: Getty Images

However, in a recent interview, team coordinator of the Super Eagles, Patrick Pascal, has called for calm and urged trust in the former Enyimba manager.

Patrick Pascal urges calm amid calls for Finidi's sack

In an interview with Sports Brief, the 49-year-old who also featured over 11 times for the Nigerian team, emphasised the need for patience from Super Eagles fans regarding coach Finidi.

"Patience is key. In our football culture, impatience is common, and everyone demands immediate results—even the traders on the street voice their frustration when Nigeria loses a match.
If Finidi performs well, it will pave the way for greater trust in other indigenous coaches, and that is our hope."

Reports have continued to circulate about the potential sacking of Finidi by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The defeat against the Benin Republic was Nigeria's first competitive loss to the Cheetahs in history, according to Fotmob data.

The Nigerian team is now winless in their Group C standings, having drawn their first three fixtures before falling to defeat against Benin Republic.

This defeat drops Nigeria to fifth place, ahead of only Zimbabwe in the standings.

NFF boss makes admission on Finidi

In another report, Sports Brief stated that a high-ranking member of the NFF made a surprise admission regarding Finidi’s appointment as coach of the Super Eagles.

The federation chief, who opted to speak in anonymity, stressed that no interview process was conducted for Finidi's appointment.

Authors
Ero Samson photo
Ero Samson
Samson Ero is a sports journalist with a track record of over five years in the Nigerian media industry. He graduated from Nigerian Institute of Journalism (2021-2023).
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Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)