Ex-international and assistant Super Eagles coach Finidi George has said that he asked Portuguese defender Pepe for his shirt after Portugal vs Nigeria game 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.
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.
