Assistant Super Eagles coach, Finidi George has said that he asked Portuguese defender Pepe for his shirt after Portugal destroyed Nigeria on Thursday night because of his son.
The former Ajax star came under fire on social media when videos of him appearing to compete for Pepe’s jersey with a Super Eagles player, Moses Simon, went viral.
His critics said he showed lack of empathy after Nigeria lost the game 4-0.
A tweep, @thenigeriancook said: “Finidi George is an embarrassment. Did you even play the match? Why begging Pepe to give you his shirt like an idiot. Nigerians will embarrass you anywhere they go. Mumu Finidi.”
@ogunmilorokenny said: “The 4 -0 defeat Emmanuel Dennis lack of discipline, Moses Simon and Finidi George almost dragged Pepe’s jersey after the match, Everything that happened in this match was a reflection of our country Nigeria.
“We went outside again to embarrass ourselves again, it’s sad.”
Another tweep who was unhappy with the outcome of the game and found Finidi’s action unacceptable wrote: “If I was a Super Eagle player playing for my country last night then Finidi George try that nonsense he did with Moses Simon when I want to exchange jersey with my Idol Cristiano Ronaldo, I’ll tell Ronaldo Finidi George is Kenyan☹️”
“Was Finidi George begging for Pepe’s jersey or he was reprimanding Moses Simon for demanding a jersey exchange?” @islimifit wrote.
However, speaking with Premium Times about what transpired at the Estadio Jose Alavavade, Finidi said he was misunderstood.
He said: “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.
“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.”
The 51-year-old added that he has long gone beyond being star-struck and jostling for jerseys for his personal use.