Sports

Peseiro Must Go, Angry Fans Tell NFF After Guinea-Bissau’s Defeat

Published

1 year ago

March 25, 2023

Editor

Top football stakeholders in the country have called on the Nigeria Football Federation to sack Jose Peseiro, following the Super Eagles’ uninspiring 1-0 loss to Guinea-Bissau in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

A first-half strike from Mama Balde secured a comfortable win for the Djurtus, who move one point clear of the Eagles to top Group A, with three games to play.

The defeat dented Eagles’ AFCON qualification hopes, but boost the Djurtus chances of reaching the continental showpiece for a second consecutive time in Ivory Coast, having appeared at the delayed edition in Cameroon last year.

It was the first time in three decades that the Eagles failed to win a game in three straight games.

The three time African champions suffered earlier friendly defeats in the hands of Algeria (2-1), Portugal (4-0) and Guinea Bissau 1-0.

Since Peseiro took charge as coach of the Eagles, he has recorded only two wins — against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome — in the seven games that he has been with the three-time African champions.

He was not with the team when they lost to Costa Rica in a pre-World Cup friendly last November.

Former Eagles defender Sam Sodje believes Peseiro’s defensive frailties were exposed by the Djurtus.

“You can’t win games if you do not defend well as a team,” Sodje said.

“He (Peseiro) should leave. Even the best teams defend well as a unit. We lost to Djurtus because they defended well.”

Ace sports broadcaster, Temisan Okomi, questioned the competence of Peseiro and his technical abilities.

“At the rate we are going I don’t even know if we have a coaching problem or a team problem,”Okomi began.

“The truth of the matter is that Peseiro is absolutely not useful as a coach to us. Its not working at all. He has only won two games in seven games, its untenable. The problem we have is that we cannot even sack him because we don’t have money but if we can, the NFF should sack him immediately.

“Peseiro has not worked for us and we need to find another coach fast.”

Football analyst Ralph Chidozie-George told Saturday PUNCH that Peseiro should be replaced to avoid further embarrassing results.

“Peseiro does not deserve to be the coach of the Eagles,” Chidozie-George said.

“The Eagles job is bigger than him. He does not have what it takes to coach Nigeria. He also does not have the strong will to lead the team.

“From his results, we’ve only been able to beat Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and another low country as Guinea-Bissau just defeated the Eagles at home and he has lost all his friendly games. This is not the coach that will take the Eagles beyond the mediocre level Gernot Rohr left the team.

“His list of players for the game doesn’t look like a team selected based on current form, and as you can, see all the players who struggled for game time at their respective clubs messed up our game against Guinea-Bissau.”

Afolabi Gambari, another journalist, believes Peseiro lacks the technical ability to lead the Eagles out of the doldrums.

“Peseiro’s competence is suspect, as far as I know,”Gambari said.

“He is clueless and not desirable of the Eagles and because of the cost, he should just go away.”
PUNCH

Sports

Super Eagles Stars, Calvin Bassey And Alex Iwobi Caught On Camera Shopping Together In London

Published

1 day ago

May 1, 2024

Editor

Super Eagles stars, Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi were spotted shopping together at a store in London.

The Nigerian internationals play for Fulham FC in the Premier League.

Sports

10 Facts About New Super Eagles Coach, Finidi George

Published

4 days ago

April 29, 2024

Editor

The Nigeria Football Federation on Monday announced the appointment of former Super Eagles winger Finidi George as the new head coach of the nation’s senior men’s national team.

The announcement came in a statement, with the NFF Board approving the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to hand over the reins to the 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Betis forward.

The new Super Eagles boss’s immediate task will be to guide the team to victory in two crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and the Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan, respectively, within the next five weeks.

However, takes a look at 10 things about Finidi George as compiled by The PUNCH.

1.⁠ ⁠Finidi George was born on April 15, 1971, in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

2.⁠ ⁠⁠He played as a right winger and was known for his pace, accurate crosses, efficient dribbling, and free-kick abilities. He played for three clubs in Nigeria including Calabar Rovers and Sharks of Port Harcourt.

3.⁠ ⁠⁠George had a successful club career with Ajax, winning 8 major titles including the 1995 Champions League.

4.⁠ ⁠⁠He also played for Real Betis in Spain, nearly joining Real Madrid before that move fell through.

5.⁠ ⁠⁠George spent one season with Mallorca and then joined Ipswich Town in the Premier League for £3.1 million in 2002.

6.⁠ ⁠⁠He made his international debut for Nigeria in 1991 and earned 62 caps, appearing at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.

7.⁠ ⁠⁠George won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and helped them reach the round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup.

8.⁠ ⁠⁠At the 1994 World Cup, he scored against Greece and celebrated with a famous ‘urinating dog’ celebration.

9.⁠ ⁠⁠He has 11 brothers, two of whom (Igeniwari and Celestine) were also professional footballers.

10.⁠ ⁠⁠In September 2021, George was appointed head coach of Nigerian club Enyimba F.C. and won the Nigeria Premier League with them in June 2023.

Sports

JUST IN: Finidi George Appointed New Super Eagles Head Coach

Published

4 days ago

April 29, 2024

Editor

The Nigeria Football Federation has appointed former Super Eagles winger Finidi George as the new head coach of the nation’s senior men’s national team.

The announcement came in a statement on Monday, with the NFF Board approving the recommendation of its Technical and Development Committee to hand over the reins to the 52-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam and Real Betis forward.

Finidi George, who spent 20 months as an assistant to the outgoing José Santos Peseiro, had been serving as the interim coach after the Portuguese tactician’s departure following the Super Eagles’ impressive run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

During his interim tenure, George oversaw two friendly matches in Morocco last month, where the team ended an 18-year winless streak against Ghana with a 2-1 victory before suffering a 0-2 loss to Mali.

“George, a member of the so-styled ‘Golden Generation’ that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Tunisia and emerged as the second most entertaining team in Nigeria’s debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in USA the same year, won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup finals,” the NFF statement read.

Reflecting on his illustrious playing career, the statement highlighted George’s achievements, which include “gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.”

One of George’s most memorable moments came when he “assisted Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) to score Nigeria’s first-ever FIFA World Cup goal against Bulgaria in Dallas, USA on 19th June 1994,” the statement noted.

The NFF statement emphasised that “the matches are must-win encounters, with the Super Eagles lagging behind in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.”