Why Super Eagles Lost To Italy At US '94 World Cup - Finidi George

Why Super Eagles Lost To Italy At US '94 World Cup - Finidi George

By Niyi Busari

Former Super Eagles winger, Finidi George has revealed the major reason behind the Nigeria lost to the Italia national team at the FIFA World Cup in USA in 1994, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

Finidi in an interview with BSN Sports on NSM (a prominet Nigerian Sports WhatsApp Group) said there was a misunderstanding between the then coach of the Super Eagles, Clemens Westerhof and the players a day before the second round match against Italy.

"In 1994, i can still recalled what happened, a day before the game against Italy in the Second Round of the World Cup, Westerhof wanted to move the team from our hotel in Boston to another hotel because there were too many people in the hotel and he felt the players were losing concentration but the players decided that they were not going to move because they have so much loads and moving the team a day before the game would cause so much stress for them." Finidi told BSN Sports.

He explained further that the lost was a consequence of the misunderstanding between the players and the coach.

"So, the match we lost to Italy was as consequence of what happened a day before the match. There was a little bit of argument, Westerhof left the hotel angrily because he wanted to move the team but the players did not want to move."

The Super Eagles lost 1-2 to Italy in the second of the 1994 World Cup. The Eagles topped their group after defeating Bulgaria and Greece but lost 1-2 to Argentina in the last group game.

Nigeria won the group D on goal difference, Bulgaria finished second and Argentina qualified as one of the best third-placed teams.