World Cup
Why Jose Peseiro must be sacked
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
A stitch in time, saves nine is a popular adage. So also is another adage – “For want of a nail” which is a proverb reminding that seemingly unimportant acts or omissions can have grave and unforeseen consequences.
For those not too familiar with the primary school poem, it comes from a longer proverb about a battle during which the loss of a nail in a horseshoe leads to the loss of a horse, which leads to the loss of the rider, which leads to the loss of the battle, which in turn leads to the loss of a whole kingdom.
This is very apt in the current Super Eagles’ situations regarding the Africa Cup of Nations in January and the remaining eight matches of the 2026 World Cup qualification.
It is 10 years since Nigeria last won the prestigious continental title, the Africa Cup of Nations. Another edition is just 47 days away from this Monday 27 November.
Nigeria Super Eagles are in Group A along with hosts, Cote d’Ivoire and two of the three Guinea teams in the continent – Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau.
In a normal equation, the Super Eagles are expected to revel along with hosts, take one of the group’s two slots, and advance to the knock-out stage.
Considering the Super Eagles’ match results in the last four matches since October, the signals are clear that nothing much should be expected.
The team barely struggled to escape possible defeats against lowly ranked football teams such as Saudi Arabia, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. The previously lively side and pride of football connoisseurs have been turned into a laborious outfit.
The situation becomes a double jeopardy as not just Nigeria’s outing at the Africa Cup of Nations is a grave risk, but the possible non-qualification for the glamorous FIFA World Cup in 2026 looms large.
The major cause is the coach in charge, the Portuguese José Peseiro Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, unqualified personnel who has been saddled with what is easily the ‘second most important job in the country’ – apologies to Niall Edworthy, author of the book: “Second Most Important Job in the Country” -an account of England football managers.
Peseiro came as Nigeria’s first-ever Portuguese coach and in succession to Franco-German Gernot Rohr, the national team coach with the longest tenure. His pedigree at the appointment did not suggest his qualifications for the job.
He had only previously handled two lowly-rated national teams – Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Peseiro’s other jobs were being assistant to other coaches and handling clubs in the fourth-tier Portuguese league.
He possibly got the Nigerian job under the benefit of the doubt. The results have been largely disappointing. In 15 matches to date, his Super Eagles won just five matches across all competitions. Of the five, only two against Africa’s least-ranked team, Sao Tome e Principe were convincing.
The Super Eagles labored to narrow victories at home and on neutral ground to Sierra Leone (2-1 and 3-2) and had to depend on the fortuity of a penalty kick to beat Guinea Bissau who had earlier shocked Nigeria with a 1-0 defeat in Abuja.
The benefit of the doubt probably explains why Peseiro was given the Super Eagles’ job. But performances have not squared with expectations. The latest results have cast doubts on the possibility of Nigeria navigating what should have been their easiest path ever to the World Cup.
A supposedly easy task has turned a Greek puzzle. For the first time ever, Lesotho got a point in an encounter with Super Eagles. So also was Zimbabwe which only just returned to international football after being previously banned by FIFA.
The two teams were supposed to be the ‘softest’ of the five Nigeria was supposed to face on the road to World Cup 2026. From the call-up to camp to deployment of players to the field, Peseiro got all wrong.
He invited some players that have being sidelined even by their lowly clubs. An example was Joe Aribo who plays outside the English Premiership for Southampton in the lower division English Championship. He has had mere cameo appearances for his lower division club, but found good enough for Nigeria’s lead brand by Peseiro.
Goalkeeping is the weakest point of the Super Eagles. Yet, Peseiro, against all logic, stuck to just one out of the three he called up, even in friendly matches where he ought to have explored all options by giving playing time to the other two.
Taiwo Awoniyi, already injured and sidelined by his club, was called up by Peseiro who also fielded him as a starter in a World Cup qualifier. What was the justification? In the Lesotho match, the groin injury got aggravated and now the player is out of service for months!
It is needless to point out that the player is now out of the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
As it has turned out, the Super Eagles’ possibility of scaling the heights at the Afcon 2023 is highly doubtful under Peseiro.
The NFF may have to cough out some amount to terminate the short-term contract with Peseiro. This should not matter as the country stands to gain more from the termination of the contract whose current validity is February 2024.
Qualification for the World Cup guarantees the NFF, at least $2 million. Featuring and crashing out at the group stage is $10 million bringing to the coffers of the football federation a minimum of $12 million.
This and possibly more will only be realistic without the services of Peseiro. Why then hesitate to dispense off the services? After all, when the horse is too old or weak to pull the cart, the slaughter man decides its fate.
Looking at the antecedents, it is obvious that Peseiro did not have the right credentials to justify the conferment of the Super Eagles’ responsibility on him. He came to Nigeria just to improve his deficient CV.
He admitted in an interview with Sky Sports last month, that he missed silverware in his career as a player and as coach. But he expects to win his first-ever silverware by taking the Super Eagles to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
How do you expect a man who cannot get to the top of Olumo Rock in Abeokuta to climb Mount Everest?
Our expectations have reached a saturation point. No amount of planning and suggestion can improve Peseiro. It will constitute an unjustifiable drain on national resources to continue to retain him.
He has given Nigeria the worst start in a World Cup qualification in 50 years. The latest result means that for the first time ever, Nigeria has not won five World Cup qualifying matches in a row, even against a lowly-ranked team. The Super Eagles under him has become a global laughing stock.
The only team his technical knowledge is capable of overcoming is Sao Tome & Principe, one of the lowest-ranked teams in Africa.
Unlike his more successful predecessors like Father Tiko, Clemens Westerhoff, and Nigeria’s home-grown Stephen Keshi who scouted for local players and polished them to international prominence, Peseiro suffers from fixation against home-grown talents.
Before he pushes us further down the abyss, it is better we show him the red card. Without Peseiro, the Super Eagles can bounce back into the international reckoning. Let’s stop Peseiro before he destroys our precious national asset, the Super Eagles.
Nigeria Under Jose Peseiro
28 May 2022 Mexico 2-1 Nigeria
2 June 2022 Ecuador 1-0 Nigeria
9 June 2022 Nigeria 2-1 Sierra Leone
13 June 2022 Sao Tome & Principe 0-10 Nigeria
27 September 2022 Algeria 2-1 Nigeria
9 November 2022 Costa Rica 0-0 Nigeria
17 November 2022 Portugal 4-0 Nigeria
24 March 2023 Nigeria 0-1 Guinea Bissau
27 March 2023 Guinea Bissau 0-1 Nigeria
18 June 2023 Sierra Leone 2-3 Nigeria
10 September 2023 Nigeria 6-0 Sao Tome & Principe
13 October 2023 Nigeria 2-2 Saudi Arabia
16 October 2023 Mozambique 2-3 Nigeria
16 November 2023 Nigeria 1-1 Lesotho
19 November 2023 Zimbabwe 1-1 Nigeria
Russia-based forward Olakunle Olusegun is still awaiting an entry visa to South Africa, creating the possibility that Nigeria may prosecute the encounter with only 21 available players.
Friday’s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying encounter at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.
Head Coach Eric Sekou Chelle will have a total of 20 players available for Wednesday’s second training session, as the Super Eagles intensify preparations for the tie against the Crocodiles.
By Tuesday night, 18 players had checked into the team’s camp at The Ranch Hotel in Polokwane, with Portugal-based defender Zaidu Sanusi and Spain-based forward Jerome Akor Adams expected to join on Wednesday. United States-based midfielder Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi is due to arrive on Thursday.
Chelle has had to adjust his squad following injuries to Bright Osayi-Samuel and Cyriel Dessers, prompting the late inclusion of Zaidu Sanusi and Christantus Uche of Crystal Palace. Earlier, a knock to wing-back Felix Agu had reduced the initial 23-man roster to 22.
Team captain William Ekong lacing his boots for training in Polokwane on Tuesday
Friday’s Matchday 9 fixture will kick off at 6pm South Africa time (5pm Nigeria time) at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium, as the Super Eagles aim to strengthen their position in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race.
21 SUPER EAGLES TO BATTLE LESOTHO IN POLOKWANE
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Adeleye Adebayo (Volos FC, Greece)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Benjamin Fredericks (Dender FC, Belgium)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Christantus Uche (Crystal Palace, England)
Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Jerome Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain)
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
The Cape Verde Islands are one win away from a World Cup place that confirms the promise they have shown in recent years but would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago.
The wind-swept island archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, with a population of around 600,000, will become the second smallest country after Iceland to qualify if they win one of their last two qualifiers over the next week.
They are away to Libya on Wednesday before a home clash with Eswatini on Monday in which to ensure top spot in Group D and beat much-fancied Cameroon to the automatic qualifying spot for next year’s tournament in North America.
Cape Verde reached the last stages of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but were deducted points for erroneously fielding a suspended player, thereby missing out on the playoffs where they would also have been two games away from reaching the finals.
In their debut Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance in 2013, Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals, prompting their coach to burst into song at the post-match press conference, and they did so again at the last edition in the Ivory Coast, unlucky to be eliminated on penalties.
Two decades ago, however, they had barely played any international football, averaging two games a year from 1986, when they joined FIFA, to 1990 when they competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ranked 182nd in the world.
The progress since has been rapid, driven by actively finding players from the Diaspora around the world.
TALENT IDENTIFICATION PAYING OFF
“The football association devised new strategies around identifying and recruiting talent throughout the large Cape Verdean communities,” said U.S.-based agent Tony Araujo, who was born on the islands and worked closely with the team over decades.
“The talent identification and global recruitment process started to pay off huge dividends around 2013, when they qualified for their first Cup of Nations final.”
Scarce natural resources and an arid landscape have long caused migration from the islands, stretching back to the Portuguese colonial period.
Migrants left in droves for Portugal as well as other destinations, like the U.S. eastern seaboard and Dutch port of Rotterdam.
The squad for this week’s fixtures has six Dutch-born players plus others born in Portugal, France, and Ireland. Shamrock Rovers’ Roberto “Pico” Lopes, who will play in central defence, was among many scouted and approached, some more creatively than others.
“I set up a LinkedIn profile when I was in college but never really looked at it,” Lopes told Reuters.
“I got a message from the then coach Rui Aguas, but he wrote to me in Portuguese. I thought it was spam and took no notice.
“Then about nine months later, he messaged me back, saying, ‘Hi Roberto, have you had a chance to consider what I said to you?’ I copied the message into Google Translate. And it basically said that, ‘we’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde? I was absolutely buzzing with that! I was like, ‘yep, 100% I’d love to be a part of the squad’,” he recalled.
In the past, it was hard for the team to attract top European-based Cape Verdean talent, Araujo said.
SUCCESS HAS ATTRACTED NEW PLAYERS
“But with new waves of recent success, a lot more European-based talents are inclined to choose Cape Verde to showcase their talents at the international level.”
Victory in Tripoli on Wednesday will be tough, but if unsuccessful they will be heavily fancied to secure qualification on Monday with home success against the Swazis.
Beating Cameroon last month set off celebrations across the islands, and those will surely be repeated with vigour should they secure a World Cup spot.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Egypt will look to confirm their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup when they face Djibouti in a Group A clash of the African qualifiers this Wednesday in Morocco.
The Pharaohs, who have appeared at the global finals three times — in 1934, 1990 and 2018 — need only two points from their remaining two matches to seal qualification for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Currently top of Group A with 20 points, Egypt hold a five-point lead over second-placed Burkina Faso, who will also be in action away to Sierra Leone on Wednesday.
A victory on Wednesday would all but guarantee Egypt’s qualification and pave the way for celebrations in Cairo when they host Guinea-Bissau in their final qualifier on Sunday.
On paper, Hossam Hassan’s men are overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Djibouti, who have collected just one point from eight matches and have been forced to host home fixtures outside their country due to stadium accreditation issues with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Head coach Hossam Hassan has kept faith with most of the players who featured in September’s matches against Ethiopia (2–0) and Burkina Faso (0–0). Star forward Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan, and veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy headline the squad.
The only notable absentee is Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, who is sidelined with a knee injury picked up early in the draw against Burkina Faso.
Hassan — the man whose goal sent Egypt to the 1990 World Cup as a player — is now seeking to etch his name in history as one of the few to qualify for the tournament both as a player and coach.
Liverpool talisman Salah, who has gone three Premier League games without a goal, will be eager to rediscover his scoring touch, while Trezeguet is expected to share more attacking responsibility following his impressive run with Al Ahly.
Both Salah and Trezeguet, alongside El-Shennawy, will be aiming for a second World Cup appearance, having featured at Russia 2018.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- World Cup1 week ago
BREAKING: At last FIFA’s Axe falls on South Africa!
- World Cup1 week ago
South Africa to Appeal FIFA Ruling Over Mokoena Eligibility Case
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Super Eagles Set for Double Friendly Showdown with Venezuela and Colombia in USA
- World Cup1 week ago
Sport Minister Orders Probe into SAFA over Bafana’s Costly Points Deduction
- World Cup6 days ago
FIFA Sanction on South Africa Offers Super Eagles a Lifeline — But a Lesson from History Looms
- CAF Confederation Cup1 week ago
Asante Kotoko End Kwara United’s Confederation Cup Campaign in Abeokuta
- U-20 FOOTBALL1 week ago
Two penalty appeal lost as Flying Eagles stumble at first hurdle
- World Cup4 days ago
Super Eagles Walk Tightrope as Nine Key Players Risk Suspension in World Cup Qualifiers