Nigeria have drawn their first two games en route to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S.A., and the coach has come under fire.
The AFCON tournament started two weeks ago, and as the competition approaches the round of sixteen stage, at least six managers have vacated their positions following their country’s results, Soccernet.ng reports.
The host nation, Ivory Coast, fired their head coach, Jean-Louis Gasset after their 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea before their round of sixteen participation was confirmed.
Since then, Ghana’s Chris Hughton, Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet, Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi, Tunisia’s Jalel Kadri, and Tanzania’s Adel Amroucehe have quit their positions after their respective countries were knocked off course in Ivory Coast.
Super Eagles coach, Jose Vitor Peseiro, has been in charge of Nigeria’s football team since May 2022 and signed a new contract with the NFF to be in charge of the team till the end of AFCON back in September 2023.
Qualification for the AFCON 2023 tournament was pretty much sealed by then, and he took charge of the Super Eagles in their World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Lesotho, with both games ending in a 1-1 disappointing draw for the Nigerian team.
In Ivory Coast, the coach has received plaudits for the superb defensive organization he put in place with the Super Eagles as they’ve only conceded one goal in their three group games.
On the attacking side, Peseiro’s team have struggled to get goals. They’ve scored three, one from a spot-kick, another from an own goal, and the last from a Victor Osimhen header.
Despite grinding out seven points from a possible nine, the results have been far from impressive and the Nigerian football fans aren’t taking it lightly with the Portuguese.
The former Porto manager earns a monthly salary of $50,000 and has been in charge of 18 games for the Super Eagles. He has won eight of those games, and lost six, drawing four games.
Anything but a gold medal in Ivory Coast will most likely lead to the end of the partnership between the NFF and Peseiro who has been linked with Egyptian side, Zamalek S.C.