By Kenny Okeowo
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Wednesday appointed a former Porto Coach, Jose Peseiro, as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles ahead of AFCON 2022, billed to kick off on January 9.
Former Super Eagles Defender, Augustine Eguavoen, named the interim Head Coach, will continue in his role as Coach of the team and will lead the Super Eagles to the AFCON 2022 in Cameroon with Peseiro only playing the role of Observer.
José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro was born on April 4, 1960. He is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a forward.
After an unassuming career as a player, he went on to coach several clubs in his country, including Sporting CP, which he took to the 2005 UEFA Cup Final and Porto. He also worked extensively in Arab nations, being in charge of the Saudi Arabian national team.
Peseiro spent his first eight years as a manager in the third and fourth tiers of Portuguese football, starting out as a player-coach at his last team.
In summer 1999 he was appointed at C.D. Nacional, which he helped promote to the Primeira Liga in just three seasons. In 2002–03, he led the team to a final 11th position.
In 2003–04, Peseiro assisted Carlos Queiroz at Real Madrid. At the end of the campaign, after the team lost a considerable advantage on the table to be finally surpassed by Valencia CF, FC Barcelona and Deportivo de La Coruña, the pair was sacked, and the latter returned to his assistant position in Manchester United.
Peseiro signed with Sporting CP for 2004–05. After collecting three losses and two draws in his first nine games in charge, the side eventually finished in third place with 61 points, four behind champions S.L. Benfica; additionally, he coached the team to a runner-up run in the UEFA Cup after disposing of the likes of Feyenoord, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United. The final was played at the Estádio José Alvalade, and after a 1–0 lead at half-time the hosts eventually succumbed to PFC CSKA Moscow 3–1.
A communique by the NFF on Wednesday evening, which was obtained by TheNiche, read: “After careful consideration of a memo presented by Chairman of the Technical and Development Sub-Committee, the Executive Committee endorsed a proposal for the appointment of Mr Jose Peseiro as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles, following the end to the relationship with Mr Gernot Rohr.
“However, the Committee resolved that Mr Augustine Eguavoen, named the interim Head Coach, will lead the Super Eagles to the AFCON 2021 in Cameroon with Mr Peseiro only playing the role of Observer.
“It was unanimously agreed that the AFCON is a good avenue for Mr Peseiro to launch a working relationship with Mr Eguavoen, who will revert to his role as Technical Director (hence Mr Peseiro’s immediate boss) after the AFCON.”
Peseiro replaced Gernot Rohr, who was sacked on December 12.
