National Teams
Finidi George clears air on Super Eagles captaincy
By Monsurah Olatunji
Newly appointed Nigeria’s head coach Finidi George has clarified the situation amid rumors that he has stripped Troost-Ekong of his captaincy.
The question of who will captain the Super Eagles has been on the minds of many Nigerian football fans, with the armband shuffling between Ahmed Musa, Kenneth Omeruo, and William Troost-Ekong.
In a media parley in Lagos, the 53-year-old coach addressed the ongoing speculation surrounding the captaincy of the Nigerian national team.
Finidi emphasized that he has not removed anyone from their captaincy role and explained the factors to consider when determining the team’s captain.
“To be frank, I don’t follow social media. We are in the social media era where everything is online, but you don’t see me online. There’s been a lot of rumors about the captaincy of the Super Eagles,” Finidi stated.
“There are things I cannot change. I played this game and was also the vice-captain; I was not the youngest. If we wanted to go by the oldest players, I think Sunday Oliseh wouldn’t have been the captain. That’s the truth because in the Super Eagles, I started in 1989 while I was playing, and he came in 1993. So, if you go by that, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be captain.
“Looking at the present squad, we have to see those that are older and capable. We are not stripping captaincy from Ekong because the reports say ‘Finidi wants to strip Ekong’. I cannot do that. Ekong is our captain, Omeruo is also captain, Musa is captain. He’s not around; Ekong is also not around now.
“But we will look at those around in the squad and see who is the oldest to wear the armband, and it must be an agreement between the players, not me as the coach to decide.”
As the Super Eagles prepare to welcome South Africa for an important FIFA World Cup qualifier on June 7, it remains to be seen who will lead the team as captain.
