Jose Peseiro Bids Emotional Farewell to Super Eagles, Nigerians, As Contact With NFF Ends

Jose Peseiro Bids Emotional Farewell to Super Eagles, Nigerians, As Contact With NFF Ends

Babajide Orevba
updated at March 1, 2024 at 1:47 PM
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  • Jose Peseiro has vacated his position as the head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria
  • This comes weeks after he led the West African nation to a 2nd place finish at AFCON 2023
  • He was heavily criticised for his tactics and ideology as Nigeria struggled in World Cup qualifiers

Portuguese tactician, Jose Peseiro, has confirmed that his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation has ended.

After 22 months of being in charge of the Super Eagles, the manager has vacated his position to pursue his career elsewhere.

This is coming less than one month after guiding Nigeria to finish the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast as runners-up.

Jose Peseiro, Super Eagles, Nigeria, AFCON 2023, Jose Peseiro, Coach.
Jose Peseiro has left his position as the Super Eagles coach. Photo Credit: Visionhaus.
Source: Getty Images

His reign was marred by criticisms from fans, pundits, and ex-internationals, especially regarding his tactics, as Nigeria are in a delicate position in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after draws with Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

After Nigeria's failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the NFF had a verbal agreement with the tactician.

He officially took charge of the team in May 2022 and qualified the team for the AFCON tournament as per Sahara Reporters.

Nigeria finished the continental showpiece as runners-up after losing 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast.

Amid reports that Algeria are interested in the tactician, Peseiro confirmed that he is no longer the Super Eagles coach.

He wrote:

"Yesterday, we concluded our contract with the NFF. It was a pride and honour to coach the Super Eagles. It has been 22 months of immense dedication, sacrifice, emotion, and enormous enthusiasm. We feel a sense of fulfilment.
"We would like to express our gratitude to Sir Amaju Pinnick (the president who signed us), President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, Secretary Dayo Enebi, the NFF, all the Staff, and especially all the PLAYERS, with whom leading has been a great pleasure.
"Guys, we are thankful; it has been a privilege to be part of this family. We will miss you, but we will always be there for you, no matter where you are. A big hug to all of you."

NFF takes decision on Peseiro

Sports Brief earlier reported that the NFF took a new decision over the contract situation of Super Eagles head coach Peseiro after the AFCON 2023 outing.

The 63-year-old agreed to a pay cut of €50,000 to €70,000 monthly before the AFCON, with reports claiming NFF is willing to pay the Portuguese the same amount to continue as Super Eagles coach.

In a recent interview, Peseiro confirmed that he has received at least seven offers after the AFCON final.

Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
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