Super Eagles assistant coach, Finidi George, has dispelled talks of him begging defender Pepe for his jersey after Thursday’s international friendly against Portugal in Lisbon.
Finidi was heavily criticized on social media for supposedly jostling Pepe’s jersey with Moses Simon.
But the former Ajax star revealed that the incident was largely misrepresented and that he is beyond being star-struck, jostling for jerseys for his personal use.
Finidi explained that the request for Pepe’s jersey was not for himself but for his son who is a fan of the FC Porto defender and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“My son asked me two weeks ago if it’s possible to get the shirt of Ronaldo or Pepe because he’s a very big fan of Real Madrid when they were at the club and I told him I will try,” Finidi said.
“Getting to the field, we knew Ronaldo wasn’t going to start because he was sick. So I told Pepe in the tunnel, please after the game, I would like to have the shirt for my son. So, he told me that was fine. After the game, I saw he was changing his shirt with one of the players and I went to remind him of what we said in the tunnel before the game started.”
“He said he was going to give his shirt to a Super Eagles player (Zaidu Sanusi) playing in his club (Porto), and that definitely, I will get the shirt. I was speaking Spanish with him and that was it.”
Finidi was also curious why many fans made an issue about the incident.
“People just want to twist things and the real reason for me,” he continued.
“I’ve had many jerseys in my playing days and I don’t need Pepe’s shirt for myself. Where am I going to keep it? I don’t have a museum. It’s just that my son is a big fan and wanted me to ask.
“That’s what I did. I don’t know how getting something for my son and becomes viral on Social Media. It’s crazy mehn! I thought we should be talking about the game. But it was like I’m trending.” Finidi added.
Bruno Fernandes scored twice in the first half and debutant Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario added late goals as Portugal thrashed Nigeria 4-0.
For Nigeria, it’s now three straight losses in a row as Jose Peseiro’s team still look nowhere near a cohesive unit, and there are already rumblings for the coach to be pushed closer to the exit door.
But a high-ranking NFF official told ESPN that it was too early to entertain any such thoughts: “He has just started and we need to be patient with him.
“He has also won the two games that were important, that is the qualifiers for the Nations Cup. Friendlies are just friendlies, and we will judge him on the qualifiers.”
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