Super Eagles, Bafana Bafana friendly underway

Super Eagles, Bafana Bafana friendly underway

NIGERIA and South Africa are in talks for a proposed international friendly between the Super Eagles and the Bafana Bafana, it has been revealed.

Posted at 07/05/2012 12:47 PM | Updated at 07/05/2012 12:47 PM

NIGERIA and South Africa are in talks for a proposed international friendly between the Super Eagles and the Bafana Bafana, it has been revealed.

The Moment gathered that the friendly match could take place in June, if all arrangements concerning the deal go through. 

Both countries are scheduled to take part in the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifying in June.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the South Africa Football Association (Safa) have been discussing on the game after an initial date of February broke down following the Super Eagles involvement in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying against Rwanda in Kigali.

A top official of the NFF said that no agreement has been reached on the date or venue with the South African FA on the proposed friendly.

"No agreement has been reached yet," the official said. "But I can confirm that talks are still on going with the South Africa Football Association. You know there was a proposal to play the match in February but that date clashed with our team's Nations Cup qualifier against Rwanda."

Nigeria will play in two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying games against Namibia and Malawi and face Rwanda in the return leg of the 2013 AFCON qualifying, all in June.

The Bafana Bafana of South Africa have two World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia and Botswana in same month. 

Finidi Slams Nigeria FA Over Saintfiet.

Former Nigeria player George Finidi

The former Nigeria international player George Finidi has revealed that he is  stunned by the choice of Belgian tactician Tom Saintfiet to be Nigeria’s Football Federation (NFF) technical director.
“They may have their reasons but I thought we had gone beyond the stage where we could employ somebody like that as our technical director,” he told Nigerian newspaper Vanguard.
The NFF have signed a four-year deal with Saintfiet worth $20,000 per month last March.
Finidi pointed to the fact that the 39-year-old tactician has no experience in handling high-profiles teams as he only had spells in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
“We have Nigerians who played top football in Europe who could do that job. If they gave the job to a senior foreign coach or retired coach with great pedigree then one can understand," Finidi said.
“I am even older than he is and I played for big clubs in different parts of Europe. I don’t know his track record."
Finidi added that "If it was in the 70s and 80s when we were still learning the basics and we hired such a person one would have understood. But not now. We have guys now who have gone to places and played big football, people with experience. We could have done better,” the former Ajax, Real Betis and Real Mallorca player concluded.
Nigeria are seen as one of Africa’s powerhouses with a huge mine of talents but the lack of organisation has repeatedly hampered their teams’ progress.
The NFF are seeking to make a big overhaul after the Super Eagles' dip in form over the past few years that saw them ousted from the last Africa Cup of Nations 2012.