George, a former assistant to José Santos Peseiro, took charge of the squad in an interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco last month. The team won against Ghana in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but lost to Mali in the second game.
George was a member of Nigeria's "Golden Generation" that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged as the second most entertaining team in Nigeria's debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in the USA the same year. He won 62 caps for Nigeria and featured at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals, as well as winning gold, silver, and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.
The 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Betis forward, who made a scoring debut for Nigeria in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Burkina Faso at the National Stadium, Lagos on 27th July 1991, also featured for Calabar Rovers and Sharks FC in the domestic scene before heading to Europe. He assisted Rashidi Yekini in scoring Nigeria's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on 19th June 1994.
George's immediate task as the Super Eagles' new coach will be to guide the team to victory in two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively, in a little over five weeks. The matches are must-win encounters, with the Super Eagles lagging behind in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.
