Jose Peseiro emerges Super Eagles coach

On Wednesday, December 29, 2021, the Nigeria Football Federation announced the appointment of Portuguese tactician, Jose Peseiro, as Super Eagles Head Coach, Top Naija can confirm.

NFF made this known in a communique on Wednesday after its National Executive Council meeting, stating that he will  resume officially after the AFCON 2021 in Cameroon.

Jose Peseiro is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a forward. After an unassuming career as a player, he went on to coach several clubs in his country, including Sporting CP – which he took to the 2005 UEFA Cup Final– and Porto.

“After careful consideration of a memo presented by Chairman of the Technical and Development Sub-Committee, the Executive Committee endorsed a proposal for the appointment of Mr Jose Peseiro as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles, following the end to the relationship with Mr Gernot Rohr,” the NFF communique read in part.

The Portuguese appointment is announced 17 days after the sacking of Franco-German Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles coach.

Though Peseiro is expected to be at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations next month in Cameroon, he will take over the team fully after AFCON.

“However, the Committee resolved that Mr Augustine Eguavoen, named the interim Head Coach, will lead the Super Eagles to the AFCON 2021 in Cameroon with Mr Peseiro only playing the role of Observer. It was unanimously agreed that the AFCON is a good avenue for Mr Peseiro to launch a working relationship with Mr Eguavoen, who will revert to his role as Technical Director (hence Mr Peseiro’s immediate boss) after the AFCON,” the communique added.

61-year-old Peseiro spent his first eight years as a manager in the third and fourth tiers of Portuguese football, starting out as a player-coach at his last team In summer 1999 he was appointed at C.D. Nacional, which he helped promote to the Primeira Liga in just three seasons. In 2002–03, he led the team to a final 11th position.

Until August 2021, he was the coach of Venezuela. He reportedly resigned having not been paid for over a year amidst the South American country’s economic crisis.