Legendary Jay Jay Okocha Speaks on Current Super Eagles Situation As Jose Peseiro Continues Team Rebuild

• Jay Jay Okocha says Nigerians will have to accept their fate in the current Super Eagles squad as the team continues to struggle
• Okocha who played 73 matches and scored 14 goals for Nigeria between 1993 and 2006 says it is a fresh start for Jose Peseiro and his boys
• The former Bolton Wanderers playmaker also urged Nigerians not to expect too much from the squad at the moment

Former Super Eagles captain Jay-Jay Okocha has urged Nigerians to limit their expectations in the current national team.

Nigeria failed to reach the quarterfinal of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and also missed out on World Cup qualification after Ghana held them in Abuja.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria also dropped one spot in the latest FIFA ranking released on June 23.

Formerly occupying the 30th position, the Nigerian national football team are now the 31st in the world, but they maintain their status as the fourth-best team in Africa, Daily Trust reports.

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Having lost two friendly matches to Mexico and Ecuador, Nigeria began their AFCON 2023 qualifying series on a good note defeating Sierra Leone and then Sao Tome and Principe.

But despite that, Okocha says it is still a fresh start for the squad as Portuguese manager Jose Peseiro was recently appointed as coach.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a new five-a-side football pitch in Lagos built by Bundesliga, the topmost German Football league that partners with StarTimes, Okocha said:

"We have to accept our fate. We have a new manager in place.

"It’s like a fresh start and maybe we have to reduce our expectations at the moment and accept where we are that we have a lot of work to do and encourage them to try and get us there.”

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Onazi faults how Super Eagles is being run

Meanwhile, Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi is clearly not impressed with the way the Nigerian national team is being run.

The former Lazio of Italy star stated that Nigeria needs to concentrate more on stabilising the national team following the not-too-impressive results in recent times.

According to Onazi, the Nigerian national team no longer has value as players just stroll in and out of the squad with little or no meaningful contribution.

Mikel Obi urges Peseiro not to experiment with Super Eagles

Sports Brief earlier reported that John Obi Mikel has hailed the quality of the present set of players in the Super Eagles team and believes a strong core of the national team can be built with the current team.

Mikel, who retired from the national team in 2019 after guiding Nigeria a bronze medal at the 2019 AFCON beckoned on the national team coached led by Jose Peseiro to find a way to work together as a unit.

The former Chelsea midfielder also advised Jose Peseiro not to invite too many new players into the Super Eagles as they need to stop experimenting and start building a solid team.