Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro has praised his players for their remarkable attitude in the win against Sao Tome and Principe.
Peseiro’s side thrashed the True Patriots 6-0 in their final 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.
Victor Osimhen netted a hat-trick with Ademola Lookman, Taiwo Awoniyi and Samuel Chukwueze scoring the other goals.
The Super Eagles put up a good display against their fellow West Africans despite already securing a place at the 2023 AFCON finals.
Peseiro was delighted with his players performance and exemplary attitude.
Read Also: 2023 AFCONQ: How Super Eagles Players Rated In Dominant Win Against São Tomé & Principe
“My players showed commitment, I pushed them to do well. Normally when you play against a team that is not strong, everybody relax,”the Portuguese stated during his interaction with the media after the game.
“In this game, they didn’t relax, they put up a spectacle from the first minute to the last they were fighting. They played a good game, we won 6-0 which was good.”
The 63-year -also expressed his delight with the atmosphere inside the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
“I will like to thank the people of Akwa Ibom State for the honour bestowed on us,”he added.
“The atmosphere inside the stadium was good and the fans were fantastic too. I want to say thank you to them. The pitch here is fantastic and the hotel too.”
By Adeboye Amosu in Uyo
7 Comments
The atmosphere speaks for itself. Akwa Ibom doesn’t play politics with infrastructure. One of the things that also stand the state out is the peoples commitment to whatever good comes around. Apart from the excellent facilities, the fans usually show massive support as we saw today. I am sure the players will talk to themselves in a bid to do more in subsequent games especially now that CAF has made the Uyo stadium the only venue for all SE home matches for the next WC and AFCON qualifiers.Apart from Kano or Kaduna, Akwa Ibom fans are simply Europe -like
Uyo stadium is the best in Africa today. NFF played mare politics when they assigned international matches to Balogun and/or Abuja Stadiums which were not suited nor equipped for good footballing in the previous era. If Nigeria vs Ghana had taken place in Uyo stadium instead of Abuja, Nigeria would have defeated the Black Stars. The Buhari Sport Minister was so full of earthly corruptions that, he was ready to sell his soul for a putt of porridge. Tinubu loves football so much just like you and me. You see that he appoints the right Minister of Sport to ensure that Nigerians enjoys the Games to their fullest potentials. God Bless our President of Nigeria.
Then go come for you with that ur last line soon, watch out @ edoman
This is good decision from CAF to made Uyo stadium as the only venue for all Super Eagles home matches for World Cup qualifiers and for the next AFCON. qualifiers 2026, so NFF can’t decide to impose bad pitches for SE next encounters, this gives SE advantages to play at Goodwill Akpabio an excellent turf with good facilities, excellent hotels and excellent weather in Uyo city and welcomer people in it.
If caf didn’t restrict the nff from the usual imposition they would have selected Abuja or asaba stadium for an intentional March.. then when the players struggle to find the back of the net due to the poor pitch they blame the coach and never themselves..
Kudos to CAF.. if uyo pitch gets bad ,, we can play in other countries with better pitches… This new rule by CAF will develop the African game..
Congratulations to the team
The Akwa Ibom State govt just recently renewed it’s facilities maintenance contract with construction giant, Julius Berger Nig Plc. The stadium maintenance contract runs for 10 years and will expire in 2024. The stadium was commissioned in 2014. The contract renewal will see the Stadium and its facilities under the careful watch of Julius Berger till 2034. No other public facility in Nigeria has such maintenance plan, take Abuja stadium for instance.
“The atmosphere inside the stadium was good and the fans were fantastic too. I want to say thank you to them. The pitch here is fantastic and the hotel too.” Jose Peseiro.
I am glad that Peseiro was able to harness the facilities, atmosphere and players at his disposal to produce another masterful performance against minnows as his Super Eagles obliterated Sao Tome and Principe in Uyo over the weekend.
It was a remarkable performance, I must confess but has Peseiro won over doubters? No, at least not yet.
You see, I have become accustomed to seeing his flat 4-4-2 formation with emphasis on swift distribution come good against average oppositions. So yesterday emphatic victory was as expected as it was routine.
Nothing other than a compelling victory against Sao Tome and Principe would have been accepted.
So, congratulations all the same for a job well done but the serious tests will come. This same formation and its principles fell flat in the face of Algerian attacks whilst Portugal simply swept Nigeria aside.
The ask is to see how his approach will hold up against more credible oppositions into the future.
But the weekend’s victory is not to be dismissed. I once again saw the new mentality that Peseiro is hoping to inject into this outfit come to the fore. This is selfless play.
Funnily, it is the player who is expected to understably be the most selfish who is turning out to be the most selfless: the main striker Victor Osihmen.
I was shocked to see Osihmen pass up tantalising opportunities in favour of finding Awoniyi, Chukwueze and others around him. It was refreshing to see that. It helps build understanding, cohesion, team play and a polished overall output. It helps to generate opportunities and higher probability of scoring more goals. It’s like watching a strategy driven game of chess in Nigeria’s attack rather than some lone glory hunter who just wants to score despite others being better placed.
So, it’s no surprise that almost all the goals scored were are a result of excellent team work that produced clever interplays which inevitably opened up the opposition time and again.
Football is a team sport: well drilled teams with a high level of understanding win tournaments, if the Super Eagles continue this way, they surely will be able to lift the trophy next year depending on how they adapt when facing elite African oppositions like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Morocco.
However I refuse to get carried away. Watching aspects of yesterday’s game was like watching Eguavoen’s 2022 Afcon Super Eagles. The style of play was eerily similar. 4-4-2 that morphs into 4-2-4 or 4-2-3-1 when Iheanacho edges closer into midfield.
It is a formation and approach sure to get you goals but one that fell short when a shrewd Tunisia and a drilled Algeria provided answers to Eguavoen and Peseiro respectively.
Eguavoen and Peseiro are currently cut from the same technical cloth. But tactically, this is where Peseiro might prove to have an edge.
I don’t think he (Peseiro) will ask his players to express themselves like Eguavoen did. This “express yourself” approach produced excess from Moses Simon and the likes which distorted the pattern and shape of the team to a large extent. Under Eguavoen, players like Chidera Ejuke and even Moses Simon were too selfish at times: a simple pass from Simon to Osihmen in Kumasi could have produced a simple tap in goal and give Nigeria the cushion of an away goal in the I’ll fated world cup qualifier.
Yesterday, I saw Boniface, Osihmen and Chukwueze trying to locate their colleagues when, under Eguavoen, they may have elected to “express themselves”.
I am not here to bash Eguavoen, far from it. I see Nigeria playing the same formation under both Eguavoen and Peseiro with just some subtle differences.
Also, the two midfielders under Peseiro tend to be on the same line (and tuned into their defensive responsibilities) rather than in front of one another.
But I will wait until I see Peseiro start defeating strong oppositions before assessing the full potentials and possibilities of his approach, philosophy and style. His defence is still shaky as Bassey and Akpoguma were humbled in an afcon qualifier with Uzoho humiliated against Algeria in an audacious long range strike.
Next stop November in crucial world cup qualifiers. With 3 wins out of his last 4 competitive games, Peseiro will be keen on maintaining this winning momentum.