José Peseiro’s highs and lows as Super Eagles coach
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) appointed José Peseiro as the national team’s new head coach on May 15th 2022, after Gernot Rohr was fired following the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In February 2024, the Portuguese manager announced his resignation from the Super Eagles head coach position following the expiration of his contract.
There will always be highs and lows in the game of football, even with Jose Peseiro and The Super Eagles. The former FC Porto manager experienced some exciting moments and not so great times during his tenure with Nigeria national team.
In this article, Crispng analysis his achievements and failures as super Eagles coach.
Peseiro’s initial contract with the NFF lasted for 12 months, the NFF while being optimistic of positive results extended his contract and gave him the mandate of leading the Super Eagles to the very least, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) semifinals.
The former Sporting CP coach successfully guided Nigeria to the final of the tournament where they lost narrowly to host nation Ivory Coast after conceding only two goals throughout the journey to their first AFCON final in a decade.
Qualifying and leading the Nigerian national team to the final of the 2023 AFCON where the Super Eagles lost 2-1 to the host country are perhaps his best moments as the manager of the three time AFCON winners, subsequently, he was awarded the Order of the Niger by president Bola Tinubu.
The Portuguese built a solid Nigerian side which is difficult to beat by blending young players with the experience in the set up. One of the key things he did to improve the Nigeria squad was the introduction of Stanley Nwabili into the set up.
See also: 4 wins in 11 games — can Jose Peseiro inspire Super Eagles to glory?
However, Nigeria’s 1-0 defeat to minnows Guinea-Bissau in March 2023, who were ranked 118th then, in Abuja, was a pill too bitter to swallow for super eagles fans, who had expected their team, ranked 35th then, to stroll past the visitors, who were comfortably beaten 2-0 by the Eagles at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon two years earlier.
Oluwasemilogo Ajayi’s goal gave the Super Eagles the luck they needed to escape a surprising 1-1 draw against lowly Lesotho in another encounter. Three days later, they again required a goal in the second half from Kelechi Iheanacho to push Zimbabwe to another score draw.
In both games, the three-time African champions produced few clear-cut chances, and former Super Eagles player Peter Ijeh felt that coach Peseiro was to blame.
The former striker for Malmo and FC Copenhagen criticised Peseiro for always starting a lineup that was devoid of creative midfielders but overloaded with strikers.
See also: FIFA ranking: Nigeria moves 3rd in Africa, Ghana missing in top 10
