Nigeria’s Super Eagles Now Have a New Foreign Manager
A new soccer manager, José Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, simply known as José Peseiro, a 62-year-old Portuguese national, has been hired for the job of manager for Nigeria’s senior men’s football team, the Super Eagles.
José Peseiro
Nigeria’s football governing body, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, formerly known as Nigeria Football Association, NFA, disclosed this on Sunday on its official Website.
José Peseiro, who was rumoured to have been recommended to NFF by José Mourinho, has never played soccer in higher than the Portuguese Second Division, is to take over, with immediate effect, from the Nigerian-born Augustine Eguavoen.
Augustine Eguavoen
José Peseiro and José Mourinho
Eguavoen had taken over on an interim basis from Franco-German Gernot Rohr who was
sacked by NFF, at the end of 2021 after five-and-a-half years of handling the Super Eagles.
Gernot Rohr
Eguavoen’s resignation was a direct fall out of the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup coming up in Qatar this November.
Nigeria’s last qualification match, which was held on March 30, 2022, was against the Black Stars of Ghana.
Nigeria needed an outright win to beat Ghana to get the World Cup ticket but was only able to play for a 1-1 draw at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria.
That poor result forced Nigerian soccer fans to go on a rampage, storming the pitch at the end of the match, when it dawned on them that their darling team, the Super Eagles, would not be participating in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The destructive chaos forced the Nigeria police and other Nigerian security agencies to fire tear gas in a desperate effort to disperse the crowd and restore order.
That was not all.
A Confederation of African Football, CAF, official, Joseph Kabungo, would later die in what authorities have confirmed to be a cardiac arrest he suffered in the dressing room shortly after the match, following the ugly incidents at the stadium.
Super Eagles, the three-time African Cup of Nations champions were also eliminated in the round of 16, last January, at the last African Cup of Nations held in Cameroon.
All those chains of poor results must have contributed to Nigeria Football Federation, NFF’s willingness to accept Eguavoen’s resignation, and to hire a new foreign coach, José Peseiro.
Eguavoen’s resignation was later confirmed by NFF in a statement on its Website.
“Following the failure of the Super Eagles of Nigeria to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the erstwhile Technical Adviser, Augustine Eguavoen,” the statement said, “has stepped down from that position with immediate effect.
“The NFF has in the meantime withdrawn the two-and-half years’ contract offered to the coaches and terminated the appointment of the entire technical crew of the team with immediate effect.
“A new crew will be announced after a proper review to lead the new charge of reinvigorating the Super Eagles to face future challenges appropriately,” the statement added.
The Nigerian soccer fans and football community were highly critical of the tactical approach of Eguavoen over his losses, yet they were not excited about the decision of NFF to engage a foreign coach.
Why?
Because their sister West African country and neighbour, Senegal, has been doing well with their indigenous coach, Aliou Cissé,
“Didn’t Cissé beat Egypt twice while they were being coached by the almighty Carlos Queiroz?” asked a Nigerian soccer fan in reaction to the hiring of José Peseiro.
The other two reasons Nigerians are not always excited when NFF talks about a foreign coach is because they see it as a waste of Nigeria’s scarce resources, as well as a means for those who run NFF to steal from Nigeria.
Who is José Peseiro?
José Peseiro was a former striker in his days, who never played in higher than the Portuguese Second Division cadre.
The 62-year-old tactician, with a degree in physical education/sports sciences and top-level coaching qualifications/training, is said to have a wide and varied experience in coaching.
Among the places he is said to have coached include Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto,
Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucharest, Sporting Braga, Victoria Gumaraes, Al-Hilal, Al-Wahda, Al-Ahly Cairo, Sharjah FC, and an assistant coach at Real Madrid.
He is also reputed to have coached the national teams of Saudi Arabian and Venezuelan.
José Peseiro’s First Assignment
Peseiro, according to the official Website of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, is expected to lead out the Super Eagles for the first time during the upcoming tour of the United States of America, during which the three-time African champions will slug it out with Mexico and Ecuador ‘A’ Teams in prestige friendlies.
The Eagles will tango with the El Tri at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas, State of Texas on Saturday, 28th May before flying to New Jersey to confront Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison on Thursday, 2nd June.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles Now Have a New Foreign Manager. THE END.
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By Nini Samuel. Nini Samuel is a soccer fan of repute. She lives in Abuja, Nigeria.
