José Peseiro: Who is the new Super Eagles Head Coach ?

A little too late to make such decision ? Well, such thoughts are of the past now as the Nigeria Football Federation has announced that Portuguese tactician, José Peseiro will be the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles but will take charge after the Nations Cup next month.

Head coach of Venezuela José Peseiro reacts during a Group B match between Venezuela and Ecuador as part of Copa America Brazil 2021 at Estadio Olímpico Nilton Santos on June 20, 2021 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Wagner Meier/Getty Images)

The Federation had appointed former Green Eagles defender Austin Eguavoen as the interim coach after parting ways with Gernot Rorh earlier in the month after five years on the job.

As at the appointment of the 56year old Eguavoen, many believe the former Sunshine Stars boss will take charge of the team in the African continental competition and to his favour, the Federation, led by Amaju Pinnick has now confirm Peseiro’s reign will only start after the AFCON.

Who is Jose Peseiro ?

Formerly a player of the game, the Portuguese time as a player was unadventurous and age 34, he retired from the game at the end of the 1993-94 season whilst he had played for a multiple teams but never played in a league higher than the Portugal Segunda Liga.

He started his managerial carrer at the final club he served as a player, Uniao Santarem and later moving onto a couple of other Portuguese lower League clubs before serving as assistant manager to Carlos Queiroz at Real Madrid in the 2003-04 season.

His time in the Spanish capital did not bring much success for the club and after just a season, Real Madrid parted ways with both Carlos Queiroz and Jose Peseiro.

Peseiro landed his biggest job ahead of the 2004-05 season in his native country with Sporting CP and after a poor start to his debut season, his team eventually found their rhythm and finished third, just four points behind Champions, Benfica.

Also in the UEFA Cup, now the Europa League, the side were the beating finalist, losing 3-1 in the final to CSKA Moscow. However, things fell apart for him at the club at the start of following season and after elimination from the Champions League playoffs and the UEFA Cup, including unacceptable results in the league, the 61 year old resigned.

Peseiro went on to manage clubs like Al Hilal, Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucuresti and the Saudi Arabia National Team before moving to Braga in 2012, where he won his first major title as a manager, beating FC Porto 1-0 in the final to deliver what was Braga’s first Portuguese League Cup title.

At the end of that season which was his first at the club, the club reached an agreement with the manager to terminate his contract in what was a real shocker as he helped them to a fourth place finish in the league along with winning the League Cup.

He went on to manage at Al Wahda in United Arab Emirates and then to African powerhouse, Al Ahly in Egypt, where he won the league title in his only season but was dismissed after the fans of the side oppose his appointment due to his weak resume.

Austin Eguavoen will lead the Super Eagles of Nigeria to AFCON 2021.

He returned to Portugal in 2016, replacing Julen Lupetegui at FC Porto midway into the 2015-16 season. Rather than being an upgrade to his predecessor, Peseiro endured a miserable campaign even though the side maintain a third place finish, they also lost in the final of the Portuguese League Cup and was dismissed by the club.

He re-joined Braga after that, spending a season before joining Sharjah FC in UAE, where he was sacked just nine months into his spell due to poor results. He returned to Portugal with Victoria Guimaraes and signed a contract until 2019, which was later terminated on mutual agreement in 2018.

He re-joined Sporting later that year. The club was in crisis at the time of his appointment and the Portuguese could not help their cause, he was sacked in November of the same year.

His most recent job was that of the Venezuelan National Team which he secured in February 2020. He led them to the Copa America this year but Covid hampered his team as most of the important players were missing the tournament. They suffered elimination from the group stages and Peseiro resigned afterwards, due to unpaid salaries.

Peseiro, in his resume, has shown he is not a man to take over a job on a long term. This might prove difficult for a country like Nigeria, who are looking for a manager to help them build a strong team with the current crop of players.

However, if the statement of the Federation is to be believed, the agreement with Peseiro will be beneficial for the team, meaning he will be committed to the National Team, as against what he is known for.

Austin Eguavoen remains the interim coach as head into the AFCON next month where they will play against Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau in group D.

Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi