The Nigeria Football Federation remain solidily behind Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro despite the team’s poor record under the Portuguese.
The Super Eagles were thrashed 4-0 in a friendly on Thursday night by Portugal.
The defeat took Peseiro’s record to a miserable five losses and two wins from seven games.
The Super Eagles has also look nowhere a cohesive unit five months into Peseiro’s reign.
There are already calls for Peseiro to be sacked.
A top NFF official however told ESPN that it was too early to entertain such thoughts.
“He (Peseiro)has just started and we need to be patient with him,” the official stated.
“He has also won the two games that were important, that is the qualifiers for the Nations Cup. Friendlies are just friendlies, and we will judge him on the qualifiers.”
The Super Eagles will return to action in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea-Bissau in March 2023.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
I’m also in support of the Coach.
The game would have ended 2:1 or even draw if we scored the awarded penalty.
The loss of the penalty really messed things up for the eagles.
A major issue with the team is leadership.Pesseiro lacks the gut to lead this team. He should take lessons from successful coaches like Westerhof, Bonfere and Keshi.
Inviting a player (Dennis) that ignored earlier invitation for petty reason shows how weak Pesseiro is..
Recycling of players who have failed to improve (Uzoho,Ekong,Etebo,Onuachu) is a recipe for failure..
What are the sins of those players who have played really well in European competitions ?
The team needs a leader that all the players respect. Dennis ignored Ekong because he plays in the top division of the same league where Ekong is playing in second division and making more money than him, even though both players have played less than a third of their teams matches (below average players)
Mikel was respected because he is a very disciplined player that plays for one of the best teams in the World. Osimhen seems like it bit he needs some lessons to get there.
Oliseh is another example played for Dorrmund and Ajax at some point. If we need an Oliseh type of leadership, Ndidi is the obvious choice
Keshi was successful because he is a natural leader. If we need a Keshi type of leadership, Balogun is the best option.
It is not too late to revamp and reshuffle the SE with the best in each position.
Nff do something now.
1. Set parameters for players invitation.
2. Get deserving leaders for the team Balogun/Ndidi
3. Pay the coaches and players as at when due.
Good write up bro.Big ups.
Before Nigeria football realise what’s going on, time has gone. Sack this coach now, he dose not have qualities to coach Nigeria. Check his track record.
@chibuike l quite agree with you. The coach doesn’t have that pedigree to coach the Super Eagles. That coach has been a failure and a disaster to clubs and national teams he has coached. He never finished any season with any team let alone winning any prize. The only national team he had ever coached is Saud Arabia and was sacked because he was sinking the team. He is popularly known as “coach 1-in-10 which means he wins 1 match in every 10 games.
Our team has never been in this position or situation. Never been beaten by 4 goals margin. No, not in any competition or friendly. Super Eagles has now suddenly becomes a weeping team to all national teams, from Africa to America to Europe to Asia. This is unacceptable.
Venezuela fired him with ignominy after Peseiro brought their national football to it kneels. By the time this fake coach finish with Nigeria, You, me and every Nigeria will never recognize the super eagle. It is good now, wait until a year. l thank God Osimhen did not take part in this “show of shame”. This Portuese coach must have sold this match in other to biff-up his national team going to World cup where they are going to meet with our West African brother. Sack this fake and corn-atheist NOW.
You’re so fully behind the coach you forgot to pay him. The coach must accept fault for this defeat. Why? Because if there is any opposition he should know very well it is that of his home country Portugal.
He must have known that Portugal’s approach to the game is with a strong midfield yet he made no tactical changes to accommodate them. Nigerians are not unhappy about being defeated by a team like Portugal, we are unhappy about the manner of the defeat. 4-0 is too big a gulf in quality. On paper, Nigerian players compete in the same leagues as Portuguese players. Is Iwobi not a thriving midfielder playing against Fernandes and Silva in the premier league?
4-0 suggests playing against division two quality players.
Portugal outplayed us tactically and in player understanding, they have a pattern of play that we don’t. In 6 months, I see nothing new tactically, the same predictable 442 that Eguavoen played is still being played with no experimentation at all.
The omens are not looking good, and another 6 months is as much patience as I can give this coach.
I would have supported his(pessirro) sack and bring in a very discipline local coach but can the NFF cope with payment of the salary they are owing him together with payment of Gernot Rohr ….
Peseiro needs to be flexible in his tactics to succeed with the super eagles.He has stucked with one system which doesn’t work,we struggled against Sierra Leone to come from behind.We have lost against every big opponents so far in his tenure which has got football fans in the country questioning his suitability for the job.
I think something isn’t right,the players lackadaisical approach which makes them vulnerable is another cause for concern,everything isn’t going right at the moment.
When you have players who plays for sides like Hoffenheim,Leicester city,Brentford,Southampton,Atlanta,Nantes,Ajax and more you shouldn’t be schooled against Algeria and dominated and destroyed against Portugal.My mouth was agape with incredulity last night I had to stop seeing the garbage super eagles was feeding us as soon as the referee ended proceedings to mark the end of the the first period,it was that bad.
Meanwhile,Wilfred Ndidi touted as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world was overran in the midfield as well his teammates,made to chase the ball all night,was a poor showing for the Leicester man,a night to forget.
I was ashamed at the same time astonished.I had enough.
It is time Nigerians admit it that Mr. Rohr was master of the game
His team may not play fancy football, but it is very difficult to win his team
From all indications, the current coach may not live up to expectation.
Mr Rohr should be brought back
I support that notion.We should leave pride to one side and send officials to apologise to Rohr and ask if he’s willing to come back to the team,I’m sure he won’t turn down the offer.
Rohr is a master in planning against opponents,he has tactics planned for each opponent which makes his team difficult to play against.Even when he loses it was mostly a slim victory for the opponent which was usually hard-fought.
I really can’t understand the reason he was sacked,it beats my imagination.The big question is,must we always ruin every good thing happening to us?We have a knack to do so,we just can’t allow any good thing to continue because we have people with different interests.
It’s a shame we found ourselves in this situation,I don’t know where we are headed to,I really don’t know.
Yea same here, one of those clamour for his removal but since after the nations cup disaster have been clam outing for his return. ZZ return to RM, JM return to Chelsea and even if gist going round is to be believe, either ZZ or JM might return to RM after Carlo. We shd ask Rorh to come back for the sake of our soccer.
Thank you, I warned NFF not to touch Rohr,Rohr has the plans and understanding of the players, this is different from understanding game, he now study the game at a time, that was the reason Rohr was winning his game
Yes go beg him to come back, make sure he comes to work for free. And not take a dime.
God forbid bringing Rohr back. We were humiliated lesser teams. Remember Central African republic coming to lagos to defeat us? instead look for a local coach in the mold of Keshi who would truly work for the country of his birth and has something at stake the honour of his country, not another paycheck earner. Lets copy something that works, look at Ghana and senegal they are competing the best coaches in the world.
Bassey doesn’t cut it for me as a left back. I think he’s better off as a CB. We need pacy players in the wing back role. He’s already caught in decision making whenever he has the ball. His crosses are good, but lack the pace and dynamics of a Mendes for example. I think Bruno Onyemaechi should’ve gotten the nod ahead of him.
We need better wingers than Simon and Lookman. Lookman can still improve but Simon is not improving with his decision making. Can’t cross the ball to save his life. A fit Isaac Success will give this team another dimension. We need players who can hold the ball up and bring others into play. I think Success fit that bill.
Our midfield is very porous thereby putting pressure on our defense. As good as iwobi is he’s not a ball playing midfielder. He likes one or two touches that ends nowhere. We need a midfielder in the mold of FlyingEagles Daga and maybe an Nwakali can be trusted to take that role if he’s ready.
Chukwueze is our best option on the wings at the moment. Our best chances came through him yesterday. I can’t blame Dennis for anything he showed courage and took responsibility to take the penalty. The pressure from his teammates distracted him and he missed. Anybody can miss a penalty. When he came on our attack has urgency unlike when Simon was playing in that wing. He will be an integral part of Peseiro’s team since he’s still a young lad.
My main concern is that the SuperEaglles play without motivation. I think the euphoria of not qualifying for the WorldCup affected their moral. Peseiro is yet to lose a competitive match therefore, I will cut him some slack. Portugal looks like a team contending for the Mundial. They have top players from goalkeeper to the attack and they have the great Christiano Ronaldo. We are no where near their pedigree. I was only not expecting us to be mauled like that, but alas it’s just a friendly. We move to the AFCON qualifiers in March.
The coach only needs to inject some fresh blood into the team. The likes of Alhasan Yusuf, Raphael Onyedika, Daga, Nwakali should be integrated into this team going forward. Ndidi is not an Oliseh. He can’t dribble to save his life. He only knows how to tackle and when he’s not fit the entire team is in trouble. Onyeka even did well than him when he came on. He drives the ball forward better than Ndidi. He might lose his under Peseiro if he can’t improve his ball playing ability.
It has indeed been a forgettable 2022 for the SuperEagles. Let’s hope the FlyingEagles, the GoldenEaglets and the OlympicEagles put some smiles in our faces next year to rekindle the hope of a better SuperEagles for the future. And it starts now with adequate preparations.
Mr Rohr indeed. Nigeria last won a friendly in 2019 against Egypt which means the decline started from the Rohr you are still rooting.
Let sleeping dogs lie.
14 friendlies and no wins. Peserio only played 5 of them which leaves the bulk for Rohr.
As the Falcons are declining, so the Eagles. We need new set of personnel like Pharaohs that knew no Josephs.
When players know they are undroppable, they will continue to play like they did yesterday.
Drop the “big names” and test new players. In 4 years time, we will not clamour for many of these players yet we want them to give their all.
Which friendly in recent memory did any make an impact?
Peserio has lost as many graded friendlies in just 6 months as Rohr lost all through his tenure. I see no decline here. Granted we were not winning so many of our friendlies under Rohr but we were not also being humiliated in the matches we lost. Most times they were settled by the odd goal.
When the team seems to be making any semblance of progress is always has nothing to do with Rohr, but when the team is pilling up losses in disgraceful fashion “the rotten started from Rohr”….as if 1 year isn’t enough to correct whatever was amiss in the team.
The team going from bad to worse is squarely the handwork of Eguavoen and Peserio.
For all we know, Rohr’s team wouldn’t have exited afcon in R16 talk less in the hands of Tunisia’s team B. Even Team A`s shed tears and blood to wín Rohr’s teams by a 1 goal Martin, not to talk of a Team B. And defeating Ghana over 2 legs was gonna be a guarantee.
As poor a Rohr was his SE wouldn’t lose 4-0 to any team on earth. I don’t care where they are from.
There was no rot under Rohr, the negetive results we got in the WCQ were outcomes of clear sabotage…give a dog a bad name to kill it..unless we want to keep lying to ourselves.
No team ever got a victory over Rohr’s SE on a platter the way they are getting it now.
….has almost lost….
The worse is yet to come under this 419 of a coach. Lovely comment Dr Drey.
Anyone notice the portugese passed the ball into the net all 3 times from open play….???
Yall think that was coincidence….??
Was that how teams were pasting into our net “when the so called rot started under Rohr”
Was this how we were conceeding goals from 40 yards under Rohr too…???
Or y’all think it’s all just plain coincidence…?
The same machine that was generating profit in the hands of a previous employee is now generating losses in the hands of his successor 1 year later and you claim “the rot started under the previous employee”. Any HR consultant will tell you as the company manager to recall that employee ASAP….he definitely knows how to turn waste to wealth
Can’t agree less with you my brother. The decay started with that coach who can’t still find a job but yet goes in the media to berate his former employers over what, because he was fired. When he was being fired at his other jobs where he was just spending a year did the world come to a halt. Six years he had to have a team like that of westerhof, but no he was just patching here and there. Please let him spare all his hurt, at least he is being compensated, is that not enough for him. Thought he would have replaced many of the fired coaches in 2022, but no they don’t find him capable. Lets compare when eguavoen took over there was absolute transformation in the team except you want to deceive yourselves. But no, he is the scapegoat because we lost to Tunisia due to costly errors by the players. Despite being one man down, you could see the hunger to seek for goals, but mother luck was not on our side. Same thing against Ghana, he didn’t lose, the same Rorh players let him down, and some lazy players who didn’t deserve invitation. For those clamoring for Rorh to come back, if this players perform different then we can conclude peserios was being sabotaged. Abeg give our own chances to handle the team. It they lose, look at the mistakes made and see how it could be corrected. Cisse is going to 8 good years coaching Senegal and you all can see what he has done. It’s a pity we can’t do away with our fire brigade approach. Why hasn’t this coach being fired yet. But if na our own, next day he or she is gone
When are we going to move on from Rohr? It’s time to let the sleeping dog lie in peace. Rohr is not coming back back to coach Nigeria period. I’m not saying Peseiro is the man for the job but our players also need to be spanked. They can’t even string passes together. It was an awful performance for both the coach and the players. All parties are to be blamed including your NFF. The midfield is the main problem of Nigerian football who can assert his influence. Peseiro, be flexible with the players you have at your disposal. Ndidi shouldn’t have started the game yesterday. Infuse more blood into the game
@Yemi we will continue to speak about rohr until we see a coach that will turn the stiuation arround. Se is going to the point where rohr met it.
If we can’t get a coach that will do that for us then we will need to think of getting the man back.
Remember egu has failed and pesiro is failing. This man will lose one competitive game that will hunt us before NFF eyes become open. Awọn ti Aye nṣe.
Rhor is the answer
How will NFF not be solidly behind the coach when he was dubiously choosen ahead of far better coaches and the money shared?
Surprisingly a lot of other countries that didn’t qualify for the World Cup, are really maximizing the FIFA week, playing multiple friendly matches. South Africa may have played four before the end of FIFA week while we have only succeeded in playing one. Na we poor pass for this whole world wey we no fit aleast invite two African countries to play for nijja ? These our football/sport administrators well so?
OUR SE MAIN PROBLEM IS JUST LACK OF TIME PLAYING TOGETHER; TIME NOT ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND/ PERFECT PESEIRO’S METHOD. THESE PLAYERS NEED MORE TIME TOGETHER TO GEL INTO A TEAM.
IF NFF CANT DO IT, MAYBE THE PLAYERS CAN THEMSELVES, COME TOGETHER DURING PERIOD LIKE THESE TO PLAY FOOTBALL INSTEAD SPENDING HOURS ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR COMPUTER GAMES. IN ENGLAND ALONE, WE HAVE GOT EKONG, AINA, BALOGUN, NACHO, IWOBI, NDIDI, AWONIYI, SEMI, KALU, OSAYI , ONYEKA, ARIBO AND THEN ADD OTHER POTENTIAL SE LIKE OLISE, EZE, ADARAROBIO, EJARIA, GOODMAN EKIKPETA, OBILEYE. AND OTHERS FROM NEARBY COUNTRIES LIKE FRANCE, ITALY, GERMANY N HOLLAND CAN EVEN JOIN UP REGULARLY.. LATE KESHI BACK IN THE DAYS USED TO ASSEMBLE MAJORITY OF SE PLAYERS TO PLAY REGULARLY, EVERY SUNDAY AT THE UWA PRIMARY SCHOOL IN BENIN CITY, A PRACTICE THAT REALLY N TRULY IMPACTED POSITIVELY ON THE SE TEAM AS IT CONCERNS PLAYING AS A UNIT.
MAYBE THE NFF/COACHING CREW SHOULD TRY ENCOURAGE THIS TO HELP BUILD THE TEAM.
All this talk of sacking coaches.
The talk now should be about sacking administrators, WITHIN FIFA GUIDELINES.
Administrators should be evaluated periodically, and they should be sacked if they are found to be inept.
Sack, sack, sack the whole lot, if that is what it takes.
If they can’t be sacked, that is if sacking them is considered to be interference by FIFA, then we can ask FIFA to advise us on what to do to get rid of undesirables in the Glass House, in compliance with FIFA guidelines.
I don’t care how talented our players are, if the Glass House is not populated with competent personnel, it’s the equivalent of pouring water into a basket.
If Peseiro is sacked, no wahala!
But the people that hired him, and the people running our football, should go with him. WHY SHOULD ONLY THE COACHES BEAR THE BRUNT OF INCOMPETENCE? Officials make terrible decisions, and when things go south, they sack the coach. How about holding officials accountable for their errors?
If we don’t have the personnel or processes in place to properly run our football, then we can’t expect to make any tangible progress.
If our officials were doing their jobs right, they would have done their due diligence and hired the best available coach in the first instance and they would have ensured his wages and other requirements are promptly provided. If the need to sack a coach who was incompetently hired arises, then the decision makers need to be held accountable as well.
Officials entrusted with the responsibility of hiring coaches should be aware that their own jobs are also on the line, if the coach they hired fails to deliver.
@Pompei, again, I agree with you on your points.
When should our football administrators start to be held accountable? The rot starts with them.
I have my reservations regarding The FIFA interference rule. It might work for Europe and North America, but it is not necessarily good for Africa mainly because of the mentality of the people that run our football affairs.
FIFA needs to be made aware of this if they don’t already know.
Nice one @ Pompeii. I think it’s become apparently clear, that our football must now have as one it’s running policies; targets for any new NFF board, failing which the entire board gets sacked. The policy should stipulate an every 6monthly target. Doing that will make those criminals sit up as well as help do proper auditing with regards to funds.
The NFF had better shut up. They owe Gernot Rohr, and now Peseiro salary arears. FIFA is watching for the appropriate time to land its sanctions hammer.
Hopefully the NFF has been following the fraud case of Jack Warner, the Trinidadian former head of CONCACAF who is wanted by the FBI.One day the financial management at the NFF is likely to come under FBI scrutiny, and some past presidents whisked away to the US
I like Eguavon free flow of football. Giving the players the liberty to express themselves on the field increases their confidence.
If he could do himself a favor by undergoing some refresher’s courses and seminars he will be a coach to be reckoned in Africa. Then he will learn to twit tactics when necessary.
Presently Peseiro and Ehuavon are on the same level with the same one style of play. No plan B. Can’t alternates tactics. Predictable coaches.
Watched the game and all I can say is the less said about the game the better
As for NFF well the jury is out
As for NFF well the jury is out
Agreed. A similar thing to my contribution in another thread! Thanks, @Pompei.
Thanks brother.
Tony, Glory, thanks. It’s frustrating. Our NFF just sit in their offices, and one wonders what exactly goes on over there, day in, day out. Their mates in England have transformed the English Premier league into a money-making machine, generating billions of pounds annually. The English FA have zero need for government assistance, whatsoever. They can even lend their government money if the government needs it, lol. Here, NFF is sitting on a market of 200 million soccer crazy people, and is unable to generate enough operating funds from that! All they do is corporate pan handling, begging up and down, from the government to corporate entities. The league is sub-standard, poor pitches scattered around the country, national team coaches going unpaid for months or even years, players bonuses unpaid. SO WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE GUYS DOING???
In my opinion, if the sitting NFF leadership provides a good league, pays coaches and players promptly, and takes steps to maintain our football pitches to international standard, they will have my support, EVEN IF THE NATIONAL TEAM RESULTS ARE POOR.
However, if we have none of the above, and the results are poor to boot, then what justification is there for them to remain in office?
You’re dishing it out as it should be. Call it sitting on a treasure vault and begging for money. Sell NFF to Dangote and he will be smiling to the bank in one year!
Who care’s if you curoupt lot’s stand with the caoch or not because as it stand today in our football nobody cares really. Look at our close neighbours Cameroun imidiately after there AFCON hosting misfortune the Next thing was to fire their Portuguese foreign coaching crew and replace him local coaching crew Rigobert Song meanwhile There FA is run by a season footballer Eto Fils not some Political Jobbers we have over running our football only for personal gain with deep seated Nepotism and Religious Jingosm with corrupt practices at all levels with this New Gusau NFF Administration not an exception . Furthermore let’s look at Senegal FA Presently they took a counsious effort to stick with there indigenous (Aliou Cisse) coaches by providing them with adequate supports nessecsery for them to succeed and also give them a free hand to operate with a contract running up to 8Year going and it’s yelding fantastic results for them as we all can see. As for us till we put our house in order NFF and allow those in the football business to come on board particularly our ex career footballers to take charge then we are not going to make any impact going forward and our youthful talents home and abroad will continue rot away because of maladministration and finally am not an advocate of foreign coaching crew for any of our national football team at all levels
both male and female teams because we have well talented indigenous coaches both at home and abroad with good motivation and support with well structured salary and bonuses paid when due to players then the desired results will start tickling in but with the way our football is structured currently we are simply deceiving ourselves by hiring and changing all these journey men called Foreign coach meanwhile till date no country has ever won the world cup with a foreign coaching crew and it will never change because there’s more to it than just assembling 11 players in the pitch in a world cup match.Then Super Eagles abysimal performance against Portugal lossing by 4 goal is very very shameful to say the least but it’s not all about our boys in that game as we all can see that there’s no coordination and motivation from them in that match so for me our systems has to change for a better result in our football and in our players as well because we have the talent abounds . Peace
Let’s start now and not tomorrow before it is too late. Sack this 419 of a coach. Anywhere Peseiro goes, he failed miserably. He sold out our national team to up-lift his Country’s prowess.
Hi guys when i saw the new nff presido during the fifa under 17th world cup in India i shook my head for nigeria football cuz the ex presido is still ruling.
NFF, I don’t blame una. Because you guys are sharing money from the man contract! Una yash will open soon. See the type of coach you people NFF emplored! Okirika coach. So Nigeria don’t deserve Dunga of Brazil and other world class coach. NFF continue to share national cake. All I knownis that, with politicians in NFF, national team can not move forward, only rise and fall super eagles will be experiencing
How come the team just became very very bad?
Coaching is only half of the problem of this current super eagles. I dare say that the players take a larger portion of the blame. The current super eagles players don’t have what it takes to take Nigeria anywhere. Apart from Osimhen, every player in this current supper eagles is either an average or below average player. To make matters worse, these same average or below average players are arrogant. What a shame.
If you bring a Guardiola, Ancelotti, or Mourinho to coach this set of super eagles players, they will mess these coaches up. So, what will the likes of Guardiola, Ancelotti, or Mourinho do? They will read the riot act to these players, axe the none performing ones, and bring in new players that will help achieve their goal. Surprisingly, this is the approach that was adopted by all the coaches – Westerhof, Bonfere Jo, and Keshi, that have succeeded with the super eagles. I believe coaches like Father Tiko and Otto Gloria probably used the same approach but I may never be able to tell.
As of today, and based on antecedent, the only coach that can handle the super eagles is Amuneke. This is because he has succeeded with Tanzania before. Keshi did the same with Togo before winning the nations cup for Nigeria. Siasia is a coach who coach who could also succeed with the super eagles if he decides to do things the right way. A coach like Finidi and others with the same mindset like him are examples of coaches who will bring disaster to the super eagles. His show of shame after the match against Portugal is a clear indication that he cannot handle the super eagles.
Super eagles will never go anywhere if we continue to rely on players like Moses Simon (a wide player who cannot cross balls from the flanks), Ekong who is a full time bench warmer at his club, Ndidi who has been unable to improve beyond his current level and a distraction and strong headed player like Dennis. In actual fact and as earlier mentioned, apart from Osimhen, every other player in this current super eagles don’t deserve to be in the team. Any one of them who wants to wear the super eagles shirt must earn it. The coaches handling the team must make the players earn the right to be in the team. Enough of coaches and players using the super eagles as a rehabilitation ground.
Josh men! You are my guy anyday. Well said Brotherman.
Well written,but sadly this group are the best we have today,let’s stop pretending we have better players.
If you think there are better players who are those players?Which team in Europe do they play for?
Sadly,the truth is one incompetent politician who knows little or nothing about sports (DARE)destroyed the super eagles.
The team now lacks the competitive edge,the motivation and so many unseen factors.A team well managed under a great German philosophy,strong will to succeed and compete got decimated by one man’s irrational decision.Today we’re the shadow of our selves,the new coach so far from what I have seen hasn’t got the technical know how,the X-factor,flexibility,he’s lacking in the necessary tools to bring any lasting changes unless I’m proved wrong in the nearest future but so far so bad.
I understand where you are coming from and the point you’re trying to make. We have succeeded in the past with certain coaches. What we need to do is to take a look at what they did and why they succeeded.
In 1989, Nigeria needed to get a draw in Cameroun to qualify for the world cup. But we lost by a lone goal and Cameroun qualified for the Italia ’90 world cup. Westerhof was actually in Cameroun for that match but he was not part of the coaching crew. He was there to observe things and sure he did observe so many things, including how the reliable players held Nigeria to ransom before that match (I do not blame them entirely for their initial refusal to go and play that match. Majority of the blame is due to the chronic attitude of NFA/NFF not wanting to pay players their due or earned allowances). If I’m not mistaken that was the match where Alloy Agu lost his teeth. Peter Rufai was supposed to be in goal for that match but due to the problem on ground, Alloy Agu was the one that eventually manned the post.
One thing that Westerhof did was to use substitution by elimination method to build his team. Nigeria was 2nd at the 1988 nations cup and narrowly missed going to the world cup in 1990. So, Nigeria could be said to actually have a team on hand. But Westerhof had studied this team and noted their strengths and weaknesses. So he set out to eliminate players who were not adding value to the team. Westerhof started by looking inwards and inviting local players to the national team. His Algeria 1990 team was largely a mix of local and foreign players. This was the same approach that Keshi used and won the nations cup at first try with NIgeria. In 5 years, Westerhof would go on to build a team that was feared not only in Africa but throughout the world!
We already have a blue print here. Unfortunately, NFF and even our own local coaches are not ready to follow it. You know the reason? It is because it requires hard work. Westerhof dirtied his hands and got results. That is why we still talk about him till date. But the NFF and our local coaches that have been appointed to the national team are not ready to do the hard work. Westerhof’s blue print is still there today. If we want to succeed with the super eagles we better adopt it.
I remember Westerhof saying he can’t use short players as his defenders. For that reason Mobi Okparaku, as good as he was then, was unable to pin down a shirt in Westerhof’t super eagles. Reason is because he was short. Westerhof said if you have a short player as your full back or defender, they will not be cause to head out balls when crosses comes from the flank. That is a purposeful coach who also has a goal and vison of the kind of team he wants. Westerhof also successfully cut the wings of Etim Esin when he was becoming a problem to the super eagles. He also had players like Friday Elaho, Amuneke, and Finidi who could put crosses into the 18 yard box for Yekini to finish. There was a Richard Owobokiri who was doing exploit in the Portuguese league but when it came to the super eagles, Yekini was king.
I know some of us will say we have no good players in the local league anymore. But we have not been having good players in the local league for years and that is why Nigerian clubsides have found it difficult to win the champions league after Enyimba. However, it was in the same supposed none productive league where Keshi found local players that he mixed with foreign based players that he used to win the nations cup. So, there are still good players in the local league. What needs to be done is their discovery, harnessing, and development. Over reliance on foreign based players is one of the things killing the super eagles. Until it is stopped, super eagles may not achieve anything meaningful in the nearest future.
Peseiro is the final punishment Pinnick inflicted on Nigeria before leaving office. We are getting no where with this man. In my many years of following Nigeria football, there hasn’t been anytime I lost faith in the team like I do now. They should continue keeping him. Ti ewura ba doju sunsun, furo Ala.
Yes go beg him to come back, make sure he comes to work for free. And not take a dime.
God forbid bringing Rohr back. We were humiliated by lesser teams. Remember Central African republic coming to lagos to defeat us? instead look for a local coach in the mold of Keshi who would truly work for the country of his birth and has something at stake the honour of his country, not another paycheck earner. Lets copy something that works, look at Ghana and senegal they are competing with the best coaches in the world.