BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

After two matches last March in which Nigeria Super Eagles won one and lost the other, the Nigeria Football Federation Finidi George has been judged as the right man for the vacant Super Eagles job.

He thus become the 41^st person to occupy the position since the adhoc engagement of John Finch, former Fulham winger in 1949. According to a press release by the NFF, the board of the federation on Monday approved the recommendation of its technical  development committee to appoint  Finidi George as Head Coach of the  Super Eagles.

George who belong to the Nigeria Golden Generation of Super Eagles of 1994 spent 20 months as assistant to José Santos Peseiro.

In his baptism as an interim national coach, his squad edged Ghana 2-1,  ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but then lost 0-2 to Mali in the second game. The loss to Mali was the first time Nigeria had been beaten by Mali since 1972.

As a national team player, George is best known as the player whose goal qualified Nigeria for the World Cup for the first time ever.

It was a goal scored against Algeria on 8 October 1993 – incidentally it was the 44^th anniversary of Nigeria’s maiden international match played against Sierra Leone in 1949.

 Finidi played 60 times for Nigeria and was Nigeria’s 40^th scoring debutant when he came as a substitute in a 7-1 defeat of Burkina Faso on 27 July 1991.

 He is a winner with the Super Eagles at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nation and featured at the World Cup at the USA ‘94 and France ’98.

Incidentally, his major task now is to qualify Nigeria to another World Cup in the USA and two other nations. The match is 35 days away from this Monday.

Enugu Rangers on Sunday beat Plateau United 2-0 to hold on at the top of the Nigeria Premier League. They extended their point haul to 57, two points ahead of their Oriental brothers, Enyimba who also beat Katsina United 1-0 to keep the chase for the title very hot.

Initial second placed team, Remo Stars dropped to the third position but still in contention for either the title, but at worse a continental ticket for next season.

Following Shooting Stars 2-0 defeat of Sunshine Stars in a South West derby, the top four positions of the are now held by the South East and South West as the league gets into its closing stage.

While Rangers and Enyimba are first and second at the moment, Remo Stars, though with an outstanding home game are third while their fellow westerners, Shooting Stars are fourth.

The weekend’s results: 

Rivers United 2-0 Katsina United

Remo Stars 3-0 Niger Tornadoes

Doma United 0-0 Kwara United

Bendel Insurance 1-0 Heartland

Enugu Rangers 2-0 Plateau United

Shooting Stars 2-0 Sunshine Stars

Akwa United 3-0 Kano Pillars

Enyimba 1-0 Katsina United

Gombe United 3-2 Lobi Stars

Sporting Lagos 4-2 Abia Warriors

Remo Stars on Friday inch closer to achieving their first ever title in the Nigeria elite division league after beating visiting Niger Tornadoes 3-0 to move second on the log and just a point behind league leaders, Enugu Rangers.

Remo Stars are now with 53 points and still have an outstanding home game to play.

Friday’s win which comes on the eve of the proprietor’s birthday has put the team back into contention for the title.

They have progressively become prominent in the Nigerian premier league having placed third two seasons ago and second last season.

Top finish this season will confirm their progression and also a third consecutive continental outing.

Top scorer, Sikiru Alimi launched them of victory path as his 28^th minute penalty kick heralded their return to high scoring ways.

It has been a while since they scored high in the league. Barely three minutes later, Sikiru, a contender for the top scorer award increased the tally to two.

Ahmed Akinyele completed the route in the 75^th minute.