'He didn't come to the party as quick as others' - Finidi rates the performance of Iheanacho against RSA 

Super Eagles coach Finidi George has acknowledged that Kelechi Iheanacho was not at his best during the 2026 World Cup qualifier against South Africa on Friday night, noting that it took the Leicester City star time before he started showing his qualities.

Finidi made a bold decision to start the left-footed Iheanacho as an inverted winger ahead of undoubtedly Nigeria's best in the business in that role, Samuel Chukwueze.

And it was a decision that backfired as the 2013 Fifa U17 World Cup Golden Ball winner was a shadow of himself for large swathes of the game and had to be taken off midway through the second half. 

Iheanacho is one of the most creative players in the Super Eagles squad and offers versatility as he is capable of playing as a center forward and support striker, and feels at home playing as an attacking midfielder, but the winger role is not his favorite position. 

Finidi has defended his decision to field the Manchester City academy graduate as a winger and backed him to come good in subsequent matches. 

Speaking at Friday's post-match press conference, Finidi explained: "Kelechi has played that position so many times and has done well. It is not about system because he has played that position before. 

"I think he didn't come to the party as quick as others did and that limited his options.

"A player can have a bad day and that does not mean he will not function in that position that he played.

"It's not about tactics, it's about not really getting into the game as quickly as possible. He will bounce back, I'm not that worried."

Iheanacho was deployed as a winger during Nigeria's friendly against Ghana back in March and he gave a good account of himself, so much so that the Super Eagles number 14 went the distance. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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