A former boss of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick believes ex-Super Eagles star George Finidi has all it takes to coach the senior male national team.

Finidi was in charge of the Super Eagles in their last two games following the departure of Jose Peseiro as the team gaffer after leading Nigeria to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.

The NFF is in search of Peseiro’s replacement, Pinnick who is the immediate past president of the football body is backing Finidi for the top job.

“I’m not an authority on this because I don’t know. But what I know is that some coaches were shortlisted, some applied and, somebody asked me a question, if I were to subscribe to a local coach and I corrected him right away that I don’t believe in the word local. They are indigenous coaches and if I were to subscribe to anyone at the moment, because of the smooth transition from Peseiro, I should say Finidi George, and I don’t have any regrets about it,” he said in an interview with Channels Television

“If it was Amuneke that was there during this transition, I would have said Amuneke because they had the same gifts, they played the same level, they won the same tournament, you know. But the difference between Amuneke and Finidi is a Finidi as a coach, came down to Nigeria and coached a local club, one of our indigenous clubs and he also won the league with this in the club. I brought him on as one of the assistant coaches.

“And when he was interviewed, you could see his humility and modesty in him. And if you see controversy among some of his colleagues, you will never hear anything about Finidi being a player’s agent, Finidi collecting money from this.

“No, he’s somebody that is primed and really and truly wants to work.”