Peseiro's 22-month tenure as head coach was continuously a subject of scrutiny and evaluation which ensured a lack of trust from many Nigerians.
In May 2022, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) sought a new head coach to surpass the performance and turgidity of Gernot Rohr's handling of the Super Eagles. They appointed Jose Peseiro, six months after he should have resumed. This was after stand-in coach Augustine Eguavoen led the Eagles to an unexpected second round exit to Algeria at the 2022 AFCON tournament.
But Peseiro's 22-month tenure as head coach has continuously been a subject of scrutiny and evaluation. Initially hired with high expectations due to his connections to Jose Mourinho and perceived knowledge of Nigerian players, Peseiro's performance has been met with mixed reviews.
Fast forward to March 2024. Following a devastating loss to Cote d'Ivoire in the AFCON final, the NFF again faces a crossroad. Peseiro has publicly announced his resignation, but limited funds may yet force the NFF to retain him.
Before the appointment or selection of the next Super Eagles coach, it is the right time for the NFF and Nigerian football fans to critically analyse Peseiro's 22-month tenure. Was there actual progress made? Did he uncover new, exceptional talent? Is there a clear strategy in place?
Let's assess the most recent 2023 AFCON performance.
Despite the team's largely underwhelming performance, certain players rose to the occasion, suggesting a positive for Peseiro's technical and scouting team. Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali emerged as a reliable replacement for error-prone Francis Uzoho. However, many Nigerians overestimate the Super Eagles' overall talent pool. The truth is that most of our players are average or just slightly above. Thus, Peseiro's lack of options because of player quality, availability, and injuries definitely limited his choices.
It is pertinent to compare this team to the ones that won AFCON in the past. The 1980 team was solid; the 1994 team was exceptional; the 2013 set was united under a strong leadership-what can be said of this 2023 set? The word that strongly comes to mind would be determined. Just like the 2013 squad, not many Nigerians gave them a chance of reaching the semis, not to talk of a final, but both achieved it and while the 2013 set went all the way, the 2023 Eagles fell to the Hollywood fairy tale that was the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire.
Peseiro's numbers
Peseiro's 22-month stint witnessed 23 matches. There were eight losses (36%); four draws (18%), and 11 wins (47%). His team scored 39 goals (16 against Sao Tome) and conceded 27. The Eagles also failed to score in just five of the 23 matches. The team conceded two or more goals in nine encounters and their heaviest defeat was to Peseiro's country Portugal in November when they were hammered 4-0. Throughout his tenure, Nigeria did not beat any higher FIFA-ranked team.
His was a legacy of inconsistencies. While he led the team to a respectable AFCON showing, he also oversaw disappointing losses to minnows like Guinea-Bissau and unconvincing draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe. His player selection choices further fuelled the debate, with the ostracisation of experienced players like Ahmed Musa while the under-utilisation of Bruno Onyemachi, Paul Onuachu, and Terem Moffi raised eyebrows.
A string of underwhelming friendly match results, including a heavy defeat to Portugal, cast doubt on his standing as the Eagles' coach. Former Nigerian striker Peter Ijeh was a strident voice against Peseiro, and he pointed out a concerning trend. The lacklustre performances against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, which ended in 1-1 results, were difficult to accept.
Tactics
Ijeh questioned the team's balance and Peseiro's tactics. "The coach has to take responsibility for these poor results. There is nothing to add. I think he's not getting the best out of the team. The squad is not even balanced to start with. The midfielders are not creative enough, and that's why the strikers are not scoring goals. Football is a game of chances, and if you don't create, you don't score." Ijeh said in an interview with sports radio Brila FM.
Peseiro's limitations as a manager were exacerbated by the AFCON loss. Critics pointed out a lack of tactical flexibility and the team's reliance on a single defensive approach, as highlighted by former Super Eagles captain Segun Odegbami, proved predictable and was ultimately exploited by the Ivorians.
"The tactics adopted unchangingly by the Nigerian team was simple, elementary but effective until the final match," Odegbami remarked. "He did not have a second strategy. It was the same tactics that we learnt 45 years ago, in 1979, during the 3 months training of the Green Eagles in Brazil," Odegbami added.
Odegbami, who was an outstanding part of the team that won the first AFCON title for Nigeria in 1980 asked pertinently, "Who has he improved in the team? How many players has he discovered? Absolutely none!"
That assertion might not be true even though it has to be said that Peseiro's hand was forced by injuries to some of his key players. The new players that broke through were Nwabali, which was a no-brainer, and Alhassan Yusuf, who was drafted in to replace the injured Wilfred Ndidi.
Odegbami continued, "In the midfield, the Super Eagles did not have a single truly outstanding player," he observed. "At the final match, the team was dismantled by Peseiro's lack of tactical depth."
"Jose Peseiro seemed contented with achieving his personal goal of a semi-final place in AFCON. In 2024, such a level of ambition is pedestrian, totally unacceptable because it is not justified by the humongous wage he earns at a time when the country as a whole is going through excruciatingly difficult times and the country is poor."
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The future must begin now
Peseiro was given a target by the NFF, which he overshot. The NFF failed to adequately support the Portuguese in delivering the very optimum he could have, whether by design or by economic constraints. The hard answers are that the Eagles only showed marginal improvement under Peseiro and the right decision would be to move on to whom?
Looking ahead, the NFF faces the challenge of finding a suitable replacement for Peseiro. There's an ongoing debate about whether a Nigerian coach should lead the team, but the priority should be finding the best candidate regardless of nationality.
The NFF has to take the bull by the horns and be proactive in its search. Where are we as a footballing nation? What do we lack? What are our strong points?
We don't have much time to answer these questions and to get cracking. Peseiro may be gone but the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign looms. In June the Eagles will host the Bafana Bafana of South Africa. Nigerians really do not care who sits on the bench, they just want to watch the Eagles at the 2026 World Cup. The NFF can at least make that happen.
