The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Pinnick says he’s confident Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro will restore the glory days of the senior national team.
He made this known on the backdrop of the team’s impressive performance against Mexico in a friendly, where Nigeria lost 2-1 on Sunday.
Mexico took the lead through Santiago Gimenez in the 13th minute, before Cyril Dessers headed in the equalizer.
Read Also: Mexico Boss Martino Satisfied With His Team Performance In Win Vs Super Eagles
However, the Eagles conceded an own goal in the 56th minute, as Ekong swept into his own net.
Reacting to the performance, the former Delta State sports administrator stated that they have made the right decision to appoint the Portuguese tactician as Super Eagles coach.
“I am happy with what we put up out there. It was the first time after the disappointment of the World Cup playoff and you can say this is a makeshift team, while Mexico had their full-strength squad out there.
“I like what I saw today and I have confidence that we have appointed the right coach that can restore the glory of the Super Eagles and make them start winning once more,” Pinnick said.
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Yes, the coach wants to bring competitiveness to the team and that is something good.
In no distant time, no player can just be 100% be assured of a short, rather every play will fight for a short
_ Mexico Vs Nigeria (2:1): A Review _
And so begins the fans’ journey with our much volatile yet alluring Super Eagles of Nigeria. With the world cup participation dream on ice for another 4 years, this morning’s soul-satisfying friendly against Mexico is just the first of many to be scrutinized with a fine tooth-comb by Super Eagles stakeholders.
This will be in judging whether or not Nigeria will be able to present a formidable outfit that will mount a robust campaign culminating in world cup qualification in 4 years time after acceptable 2023 Afcon qualification and tournament expeditions.
Tasked with this humongous responsibility is the enthusiastic and confident Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro who took charge of the Super Eagles for the first time yesterday as his boys slipped to a slim 2:1 loss in an encounter that definitely provided ample glimpse of what to expect of Nigeria from the former Real Madrid assistant gaffer.
Santiago Gimenez stole behind the defence to stab home in 12 minutes which undid Nigeria’s admirable positional discipline until then. Though the Super Eagles were clearly under the cosh, they were not hopelessly torn out of position. They were resolute as they tried to find their feet.
Nigeria’s counter-strike came courtesy of Dessers’ dashing header in 54 minutes that slammed the ground before ramming through the goalkeeper. The Belgian born forward was making his first start and scoring his first goal for Nigeria. But the parity wouldn’t last as Ekong lashed home an own goal in 56 minutes – his second own goal that I can recall in Super Eagles colours following the one that gifted Algeria the lead in the 2019 Afcon semi-final.
It ended 2:1 which is an adequate reflection of how events transpired in the match.
For me, I was thoroughly satisfied with what I saw. It was a typical Super Eagles performance: nothing special but nothing to be overly worried about. They didn’t see the ball as much as they would have liked but they were not humiliated by the more organized and technically gifted Mexicans. The Super Eagles made it difficult for their opponents and dispensed their role in a manner that left the score line respectable even in defeat.
Instantly, you could see the Peseiro-factor come into play in how the Super Eagles were arranged and how they organized themselves in-game. It started with my preferred 3-5-2 formation when attacking which transforms to 5-3-2 when defending. When Moses Simon moved to midfield (particularly in the second half) it easily became 4-4-2.
The original formation has 3 the center backs flanked with Moses Simon as right wingback and Calvin Bassey as left wingback. Then the flat midfield trio was made up of Iwobi to the left, Bonke in the middle and Aribo to the right. And then Dessers was the centre forward with Moffi his sidekick.
Iwobi’s fluidity, mobility and movements for the left yesterday were integral to lubricating Nigeria’s midfield and flaring up exciting attacking possibilities. He was ably complemented by Aribo’s fancy footwork, piercing runs and penetrative passes.
Defensively though, Iwobi’s position was breached for Mexico’s first goal as the long ball from left midfield that led to the delicate cross for the goal came from an area that should have been manned by Iwobi. Although Nigeria played with commendable positional discipline that was easily discernible, wonky arrangement at the back kept Gimenez on-side for Mexico’s first goal with Simon and Ajayi not in sync with the position of the other 3 defenders (as the 2 sank too deep).
Uzoho was a sitting duck for that first goal.
It was nice to see Nigeria attempt to carve out several attacking initiatives of their own throughout the encounter. Aribo and Simon tried to combine at the left; Iwobi’s runs created several openings; long balls were launched at Dessers; Basseys crosses were delightful; Ishaq made his presence known; which all translated to the variety of ways in which they orchestrated goal scoring opportunities.
But they did struggle to string passes together at times. The players seemed too sparsely spaced out leading to passes across a wider space on the pitch. Things got better and tighter in the second half when Moses Simon provided extra body in the midfield. After the break, they became tighter and a bit more concise in possession.
The chemistry between the Dessers and Moffi (playing together for the first time) wasn’t exactly thoroughbred. Someone like a marauding Osihmen or a home-based player who is very eager to please, with legs and lungs to match his ambitions, will suit a support striker role in that set up.
At the back, Uzoho is slowly playing his way back to Nigerian hearts. He made a number of eye-catching saves last night and could be excused for the 2 goals Nigeria conceded. But he needs to find a club where he will play regularly from next season otherwise he will easily lose his spot to Okoye or an active and agile home-based goalkeeper.
On occasions, Nigeria looked like Everton under Frank Lampard last night. They displayed excellent positional discipline without the ball and made life difficult for the Mexicans. Still, they allowed far too many dangerous crosses into their 18 yard box while questionable decision making compounded other shortcomings when they had the ball.
In the first half, they struggled to carve out clearcut scoring opportunities which was clearly addressed and improved upon in the second half with a slight tweak of the formation.
Overall it was an acceptable level of performance by this Jose Peseiro-tutored Super Eagles. It provided assurance that with time, and luck, the 62 year old tactician can mould this set of players into a cohesive unit that will restore Nigeria back to its rightful place in the global football community.
Peseiro’s unique selling point in this match was how the Super Eagles were professional, resolute and disciplined. Their style of play was easily discernible which peaked my interest and kept me invested in what the players were trying to do.
The last thing I wanted to see was a disjointed, incoherent and disorganized Super Eagles display for long periods. Yes they were rattled at times and they needed to go 1 goal down before firing on their cylinders, but once they got going, the Super Eagles gave a professional account of themselves.
The foundation has definitely been laid for a Super Eagles edifice that will be built on maximizing possibilities inherent in the player-resources at Nigeria’s disposal at this time in order to deliver compelling performances in games to come.
@deo, you mean 3 own goals from ekong.. One against Croatia at the world cup.
Sean, that Croatian body snatching grab was an almighty cock-up by Ekong but it wasn’t an own goal.
That one was a penalty na not an own goal. We can’t really expect much from a team that only had one full day of training. Overall I saw a lot of positives going forward. Let’s see how they respond on Tuesday.
I think if NFF and Nigeria would like to restore Super Eagles glory all they must assit coach Pereiro on his job and tenure with support and with vestal administrive system without favourtism , corupption , with obligation to pay his wages and bonuses in time, prepare the team for fixtures, help him to know Nigerian football culture, help him to know African football and Nigerian football, help him to espy and watch NPLF matches in all around Nigeria, give him any Super Eagle file to study his players in and out Nigeria, he must do his dedication and decipline and determintion in order to success in his task, he must overhaul SE formation and their shape with a total and speed football with defensive solidity in midfield and fullbacks, he must put a creative attacking midfielders who can play deep football just like to put Iwobi with Aribo or with Ishaq Rafiu who was creative player in Mixico match. If NFF do these things I think Peseiro can success and can creat formidable SE.
In Texas, 2 days before a game against Mexico Nigeria’s newly-appointed foreign coaches were neeting local counterparts, and foreign-based players were meeting home-based players, all for the first time. Given this scenario the Super Eagles showed the depth of their potential.
Ode pinnick was that Mexico first team? He will always find one excuse to justify failure. Someone started his job with loosing what if he won we wouldn’t have have ear to hear world again ode oshi. Continue your cup is almost full
By now, we should start forgetting about Shehu, Collins, Omeruo, even Etebo and start searching for good replacement for Indidi as he has started missing lots of key matches. Also a good replacement for Leon, who’s not getting younger.
Our golies will get it right with time, Enyeama was worse when he was there age.
Still waiting for the next match to and see what’s up. I’ll give their Mexico performance without the own goal 50% and 40% with the own goal which is not really bad for a starter. By the time they all come together, they should be better.
Sean, I think we should divide Peseiro’s tenure into seasons. I know what I am about to say is not popular but I will say it anyway.
For the immediate next season (between June 2022 to the end of July 2023), I will not advocate dropping any of our experienced legs, however unpopular these players may be to fans.
After Afcon 2023, then – for me – we can start saying bye bye to certain players. In fact, these players should be informed now that they are playing out their last season in Super Eagles colours. Obviously, if these players are invited and prove not to be up to the job anymore on the field of play, then they can be dropped permanently.
I believe that next season, we need the most experienced players we can call up to mix with younger ones in order to bring success to the Super Eagles.
The likes of Balogun, Shehu, Musa, Ighalo and Omeruo for me are still relevant for the next 6 to 12 months. The only player I can endorse his exclusion is Daniel Akpeyi. I think he has served Nigeria well and it is time to look to other goalkeepers. If Ighalo doesn’t mind “not” making the final squad for the 2023 Afcon, then we can still call on his expertise to help us qualify. Musa receives a lot of flack from us Super Eagles fans but, like Ighalo, he should be ready to help us reach the promise land without going inside the promise land itself.
They are Nigerians after all and qualifiers will contribute to their caps. I remember how Obinna Nsofor played a part in Nigeria qualifying for the Brazil 2014 world cup without going to the tournament.
I just don’t think it is advisable to just drop highly, vastly experienced players just like that.
At the end of the day, it is up to why Peseiro wants to do. But I think – in the short term – some of these players might still have something to give because some of them feel they have unfinished business in the Super Eagles.
And if that unfinished business means helping Nigeria lift the Afcon trophy, then they are welcome to be in the team in my books.
@deo, did their vast experience take us to the world cup? Or did it make us qualify for the quarter finals of the afcon? I do respect your opinion but we should call it what it is. They are past their prime and the earlier we move on the better. If we were struggling with strikers, I would be willing to support that argument for Ighalo but we are blessed with myriads of quality strikers. Dessers scored 10 goals in European competition, osimhen has 14 league goals in a tough league like the serie A.Sadiq Umar has 17 league goals. Onuachu won the golden boot in belgium. These are players who are younger and doing the business. Haba! Does he want to play till the age of 40? In this country we like to talk about experience ,even in politics, like we have benefited from such experience.
Musa also, what has his experience done for us recently? Experience from the bench is not good enough. We should be encouraging young up and coming players. Ishak is another who did well. There is Moses Simon, lookman, chukwueze, ejuke, Dennis, kalu, yira sor and we are still demanding for musa in the team. I do respect your insights on the game , I am just taken aback on your comments on ighalo and musa.
Golden Child, I don’t think I am the one to tell you that a miriad of factors led to Nigeria not participating in this year’s world cup. Laying it on the doors of long standing experience Super Eagles players detracts from the point.
I respect your views too. There are many fans like yourself who believe players like Omeruo, Balogun, Musa and Ighalo are past thier prime. Seeing how Omeruo acquitted himself in the Afcon will throw doubt on this line of thinking.
Let’s call it what it is: you are now no longer a fan of these players as you see what you perceive to better, younger options for the Super Eagles in their roles. Well, if Peseiro sees things in that light then you will definitely have your way.
There are such things are short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions.
I see these mature players are no more than short-term solutions with a caveat. The caveat is: if they are invited and prove to be undoubtedly over-the-hill, then we can definitely discard them. I just feel that in the immediate short term, if you drain your national team of valuable experience, it will skew the make up of the team leading to potential short term disappointments. But yes, these short term disappointments can themselves – in the fullness of time – yield longer term success. Perhaps you prefer we sacrifice short term pains for longer term gains which I can understand.
By the way, lack of on-field leadership contributed to the Super Eagles 1:1 draw to Ghana in Abuja. When Musa left the pitch against Sierra Leone recently the team unravelled.
I stand by my views on Musa and Ighalo. These players embody massive short term possibilities. What they bring to the team behind the scenes alone can never be appreciated from afar. I knew my views on this matter will be unpopular however it will not suprise me in the slightest if the Super Eagles management team sticks with some of these players in the immediate short term.
We recently played one nation’s cup which Musa came out himself without nobody forcing him to announce his retirement sighting the very tournament as his last. Same for Ighalo who came out of the retirement after he had once announced it.
Now..we have nothing before us except the Qualifiers, I believe now is the time to rebuild through friendlies.
For Akpeyi, we have Okoye, Uzoho, Adeleye, Olorunleke and the other homebase keeper…
For Shehu, we have Aina, Ebuehi, Osayi-Samuel (who had long committed his allegiance to Naija and the new guy, Felix Agu.
The likes of Ajayi, Awaziem, Akpoguma can stand on their own than to stick with oneruo.
What else do we need Ighalo for? He has hold up play, Dessers has, he can score, dessers can score, we also have Sadiq, Awoniyi, etc . The time to rebuild is now! Let them blend and take it to a tournament just like Aribo replaced Mikel well and Chukwueze and Simon replaced Victor Moses.
I enjoyed reading your comments but I disagree with you on keeping certain experienced players. Every experienced player that’s sitting on the bench is keeping a young player from getting international match experience. Teams like Croatia with the 36-year-old Luka Modric use his experience on the field, not on the bench.
Ahmad Musa coming into a game with 5 minutes of play is just a waste of a squad position that could have been occupied by a younger player. I’m also convinced that Ekong should also go, I actually rate Balogun better than Ekong except Ekong is a better leader.
Older players are useful if the player is playing a specialized role within a formation that no other player can perform. For example I support recalling Victor Moses if the SE want to play 3-5-2 because he’s a better wingback and crosser of the ball than Moses Simon.
Dessers has proven that he’s the best companion to Osimhen in a two man attack.
I support those who are calling for revolutionary change because with incremental change the old players corrupt the incoming young by passing on bad playing habits. These habits include a lack of hunger and passion to move the ball into the opposition half. Right now Ekong appears to be encouraging the habit of constant back passing and slow build up from the back rather than a incisive midfield.
Our attacking midfield is the area of my greatest concern. This role as shown by Messi and others requires a very creative and skilful player. We don’t have that player, so either we change our style of play or we continue to rely on Iwobi who flatters to deceive. He looks good on the ball but his final product is mediocre.
Golden Child, additionally, media reports in some quarters claimed that Ighalo was one of the players on the bench who discovered that Ghana had changed formation and called for action. It was the same old cargo Ighalo who knocked it down for youthful exuberant Osimhen who executed a bicycle kick in a match of such magnitude (where a calmer mature striker would have elected for a less flamboyant manoeuvre).
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Peseiro must make great overhaul in Super Eagles style of play and follow it with strong and clever and combative players who are in a good form with their clubs; a players have tactical decipline , dedication, determination to perform a best football; in defensive midfield Peseiro must recall on the next ecounters like Anderson Esiti, Joel Obi, Nwankwo Obiora, Usman Mohammed , because thoes players are so strong and combative can bear playing under pressure , also they have a capacity to put the rival under pressure not like shaky and weak players like Bonnke, Etebo, Onyeka; in fullbacks Peseiro must recall Osyie Smuel to be instead of Aina and Godfry Oboabona to be instead of William Troost ; Aina and William Troost are shaky and weak defenders who can not bear playing under pressure , they always committ an errors which cause goals.In tactic he can play with 4-1-4-1 formation or 3-5-2 if the rival is degerous , but he can play with 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 if the rival is weak without any complacencyor underdog.
I respectfully disagree with the notion that we keep certain players who from all indications are past their best. I value experience as well, but I don’t acquiesce to the idea of retaining players like Ahmed Musa, Kenneth Omeruo, Shehu Abdullahi and Odion Ighalo. Even Leon Balogun should be eased out soon. Where was their years of experience when we so needed it at AFCON in Cameroun and the crucial World Cup eliminator against Ghana? Retaining some of the afore-mentioned players would indirectly amount to denying the younger players the experience they need going into 2023 AFCON tournament and the next World Cup qualifying matches. No disrespect, but we are in a group consisting of Siera Leone, Guinea Bissau and Mauritius. We still have a fair number of players on this team with a good deal of international experience. If we cannot secure one of the two available qualification tickets in our group, then we have no business being in Cote d’Ivoire next year. As for Troost-Ekong, I admire his passion and commitment to the national team. I don’t support him being dropped completely from the team. But in my opinion, if he must lead, it should be from the bench. In the end, though, it is the decision of the new coach who I suggest, be given some breathing room that matters.
My guy ekong is not good enough. I keep saying this. He is lucky he chose to play for naija.let us be honest here, He has been woeful for both club & country for a while now and needs to be axed. If not, we are not going anywhere. The coach needs to scout 2 new CB to take over from Ekong and Balogun.
How come you sound like Jimmy Ball?
If Peseiro is really serious about building this team, he should embark on a massive search for a creative midfielder. We tend to overlook this, but a team that doesn’t have a player with that incisive, creative edge in the middle of the park, will always find it difficult to retain possession and maintain its balance. That’s what this team is lacking now. We are good to go in almost all other departments, but our midfield is always shaky because there’s no one there to provide that balance and cutting edge.
Did anyone see the role Daga played at WAFU B? He was the main reason nigerua did so well. We found most of our matches easy because the boy had the ability to retain possession, give defence-spliting passes and he could score too. If you take Daga away from that team, players like Ibrahomim Muhammed, Tolulope and Aliyu will definitely struggle to find goals. He contributed immensely to our teams devastating counter attacks and he rarely made mistakes in his final passes. He’s got a good vision and he wasn’t afraid to get into tackles. An international, matured version of Daga will change the narrative of Nigeria’s attacking football. Mikel Obi played this role in 2013 when we won AFCON. Okocha did it a lot of times in national team colours. The only player with such attribute in the present SEs is Alex Iwobi, but the guy hasn’t really been consistent. NFF should be very serious with looking for a very good, consistent creative midfielder for the SEs.
Again, I do feel that Aribo is far more dangerous playing close to the box. His movements, dribbles, turn of pace, passes and unexpected shots can be a real trouble to any team. If Rangers uses him the way our national team coaches use him here, he won’t be this awesome.
I love Dessers’ power, pace and positional play. He may not be as skilful as some of our guys out there, but he’s got this uncanny ability to turn an opposing defence into a total mess. I strongly believe he has a better tactic awareness than Osimhen. He’s more intrested in scoring simple goals without impressing anyone. With a player like that and Oslmhen upfront, Ghana would havr been in serious trouble. But who are we to talk when our Oga said he didn’t even know him.
We are currently very light in the defence. The new coach should really be worried about Ekong. He doesn’t have to be scared to drop him. We should start experimenting new combinations. If there is any area NPFL players could be useful, I think it’s the defence. There are a lot of Oboabona to be discovered. We should be very cautious of using Ekong and Balogin these days. Otherwise, we will always be in trouble like we were earlier today with Ekong.
It is my hope that Peseiro will apply the best practise for players invitation to the national team. When a team is captained by a bench warmer of a relegated team, it will be difficult to motivate and impact leadership skills. The other effect is that every bench warmer and players from unrated leagues will believe they have a stake in the team.
If you are not playing regularly, you become match rusty and a liability for the team.
The SE was once lead by mercurial and highly respected players like Chukwu, Keshi, Oliseh, Yobo, and Mikel. We had the best ofoments watching the team because these guys are top players and they lead by example..
It’s high time the SE select the best player to lead the team.
The question arise;
If one doesn’t have the legs anymore, how good is one’s experience?
In as much as experience is vital in the game, you must be in shape to produce and use it.
No one would argue against the likes of C.Ronaldo ,Messi,Benzema,Di Maria,Modric (to some extent Zlatan) etc. still used in their respective national teams. They are called upon not because they’re just ‘experience ‘ but because they’re very active in their clubsides.
The argument is not against experience. It is about how active the player is.
Players selected for a national team should always be on merit,the Super Eagles is no exception.
I know most would agree,it wasn’t lack of experience that caused us the Afcon or the world cup ticket; we simply were bested tactically.
Besides, You learn by experiencing. If they aren’t given the chance to acquire such experience,how do they get experience?!
The younglings in the Eagles today are mostly growing in experience by their performances in their clubsides. I would argue,they have acquired enough experience in the national team as well. Most have played in 2 Afcons and 2 world cup qualifiers.
Even if; Ndidi,Moses Simon,Iwobi, etc. have all come through; they should be the experience we are talking about going forward. Not Musa,Ighalo,Balogun et al.
If anyone wants a call up to the national team they should earn it and produce it on the field of play.
It should be the rebirth of the Super Eagles not stucking on a time loop!
@Sean, I even forgot Awoniyi, Chei! NIGERIA has a long way to go. What I do not understand is the logic behind the insistence on ighalo and musa. If it were a dept in the team where we have been struggling , I will understand or if these old players are still doing the business in top leagues in Europe like zlatan, I may consider but Ighalo is playing in the Saudi league for crying out and musa in a less prestigious league can not command a starting position. Why the clamour for these players? Awoniyi scored 15 goals in the German top tier, osimhen despite injuries and ailment still managed to score 14 league goals and an additional 4 in Europe. Sadiq scored 17 league goals and on the verge of securing promotion with his team. Dessers scored 9 league goals , 1 cup goal and 10 goals in Europe, making a whopping 21 goals this season, Onuachu has been painting belgium red with goals and we say they do not have experience. Dessers banged in 15 league goals with Heracles. These guys have been scoring goals way back. We are not helping the team this way, an Ighalo would mean Dessers drops out or an awoniyi or a sadiq. I saw ighalonwhen he played in Lagos vs cape Verde, he was a shadow of himself. His time and Musa’s has passed, let them pass the torch to a younger generation. This “we die here” approach would not take us any where.
It is a new day and a new dawn, we have a new coach, let us build a formidable team. How valuable is experience from the bench, are they coaches? Ndidi shouldnbe made the substantive captain whilst iwobi may deputize.
I think for improvement of our dear Super Eagles, we should add that our wingers must improve on crossing the ball into the 18 yard box instead of being one legged and predictable.
If a winger can’t cross ball such players are not needed in the team and should be discarded same applies to our full back, most times we do blame lack of creativity to our midfielders but creativity can all come through the wings which I believe we have options there.
We really need some rebuilding of this team and for that to happen we need a good coach, is peseiro the man? I don’t know yet I’m watching .
Please make it 18 for Sadiq Umar and still counting.