Nigeria at AFCON 2023: Jose Peseiro Overachieved Despite Ivory Coast Final Disappointment

• The Super Eagles was highly unfancied before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations kicked off
• However, Jose Peseiro silenced doubters by taking the country to its first final since 2013
• Sports Brief analyses why Nigeria still overachieved despite the stinging loss to Ivory Coast

Fans of the Nigerian national football team are certainly still reeling from the disappointment of losing out on the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations title - and it might take a while to get over it.

Picture this: you are seated at the dinner table, your best meal has been prepared - it's a meal you haven't had in 11 years - you dig in, and the first bite is just as you had imagined.

But just before you have the second bite, the plate is bumped off the table, the pieces scattered all over, and before you rescue it - something tramples on it, and it's all gone in a jiffy.

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Sad as it is for the Super Eagles faithful, it is time for some hard truths. Jose Peseiro overachieved in Ivory Coast.

Why Nigeria were not AFCON 2023 favourites

At the start of the tournament, Nigeria were only the sixth favourites to win according to Opta's supercomputer. It wasn't a matter of having weaker squads than the top five in Opta's list. Their camp is peppered with A-list players led by the reigning African Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen.

The main issue for fans and pundits alike was that Peseiro never seemed to know how to get the best out of his team. Draws against Lesotho and Zambia in November, plus a loss to Guinea just a few days before they played Equatorial Guinea, made the public confidence in the squad very low. The opener, which ended in a one-all draw, didn't do much to boost the confidence either.

Osimhen on a mission with Nigeria at Cup of Nations

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The mere fact that Peseiro managed to build with this squad as the days went by to reach the final is commendable enough. The 63-year-old borrowed a leaf from his friend, Jose Mourinho's handbook, choosing to back his defence to get him over the line.

Why Peseiro deserves credit

After the draw against Equatorial Guinea, Peseiro reverted to a back-three, which didn't concede from open play before the final. Every player played his part, with William Troost-Ekong capping a wonderful tournament (it could have been better) with the Golden Ball Award.

The midfield area was also a concern, with Wilfried Ndidi's injury complicating issues. Save for the final, the double pivot of Alex Iwobi and Frank Onyeka excelled in large trunks of the tournament, with the occasional introduction of Alhassan Yusuf managing to hold brief in the middle of the park.

Nigeria's course was also perhaps helped by the elimination of the perceived favourites. A potential meet-up with Algeria in the quarter-finals, Morocco in the semi-final, or Senegal in the final, never came to pass, with the big boys exiting the tournament very early.

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In a tournament where the heavyweights were left in the dust, the Super Eagles stood tall, and by the time we were in the quarter-finals, Opta stats had them as the favourites.

What went wrong in the final vs Ivory Coast

Peseiro got every tactic correct until his misgivings in the first six games of the competition caught up with him. For starters, he chose to call 25 players rather than the 27 that CAF allowed every qualified team to bring to Ivory Coast. And of the 25, he religiously stuck with a starting XI that was hardly refreshed.

The team appeared out of energy as Ivory Coast ran rings around them. Memories of a jaded-looking Osimhen against South Africa was a stark example of how Peseiro failed in man management to keep his squad fresh. Ola Aina played every minute save for the first game. And for a demanding position as a wingback, it finally got to him in the most crucial game of the tournament.

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If only Peseiro could have trusted his bench more...

The defeat will sting. No one ever remembers who came second. The one silver lining for Nigeria is that this squad is made up of youngsters who will be in their prime at next year's tournament. Osimhen will be 26, Lookman 27, Samuel Chukwueze 25, and so on.

It is a squad that will return with an AFCON final experience, looking to right the wrongs of 2023. But for now, as much as losing the final hurts, the players and Peseiro can chin up and be proud of their road to the final.

AFCON 2023 individual awards

Sports Brief also previously reported that Nigeria defender, Troost-Ekong, was declared AFCON 2023's best player.

The PAOK player succeeded Sadio Mane after being a rock for Nigeria at the back and a source of goals at the front.

Ronwen Williams won the golden glove while Simon Adingra was crowned the best young player of the tournament.