- Peseiro Failed To Qualify Venezuela For FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
- Peseiro was Saudi Arabia Coach for two years, a period which included their unsuccessful bid to reach FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010
José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro, the Portuguese football manager appointed by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Sunday as Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles, has a history of losing matches with national teams he coached.
The announced the appointment of Mr Joeé Santos Peseiro as the new Head Coach of the Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles.
According to a statement by NFF’s Spokesperson, Ademola Olajire, the appointment is with immediate effect but subject to the signing of agreed terms between the NFF and Mr Peseiro.
“Peseiro is expected to lead out the Super Eagles for the first time during the upcoming tour of the United States of America, during which the three–time African champions will slug it out with Mexico and Ecuador ‘A’ Teams in prestige friendlies.
“The Eagles will tango with the El Tri at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas, State of Texas on Saturday, 28th May before flying to New Jersey to confront Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison on Thursday, 2nd June,” the statement read in part.
The NFF statement also announced that “former Nigeria international forward, Finidi George will now be 1st Assistant to Peseiro, with Salisu Yusuf now to be second Assistant as well as Head Coach of the CHAN and U23 National Teams.
“Usman Abdallah is the third Assistant while Eboboritse Uwejamomere will be the Match Analyst and another former Nigeria international, Ike Shorounmu will be the Goalkeepers’ Trainer.”
Perhaps, what the NFF did not say is that Jose Peseiro was the former player who played as a forward and last served as Manager of Venezuela’s national team who have played badly in the run-up to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign.
The former Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Braga coach was named Venezuela’s Coach for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign in February 2020.
The 61-year-old was a one-time assistant to Colombia Head Coach, Carlos Queiroz, at Real Madrid and managed Saudi Arabia for two years, a period which included their unsuccessful bid to reach South Africa 2010.
His very unimpressive record with Venezuela. His record shows that on October 10, 2020, under Nigeria’s new coach, Venezuela got a 3-0 drubbing from Colombia. On October 13, it lost 0-1 to Paraguay. On 14 October, 2020, it again lost 1-0, this time to Brazil. But on November 17, it recorded a 2-1 win against Chile. On June 3, 2021, it again lost 3-1 to Bolivia. On June 8, 2021, it recorded goalless draw with Uruguay.
Peseiro has previous experience of working in Africa having coached Egyptian giants Al Ahly between October 2015 and January 2016, winning a league title.
Five months ago, the NFF had announced the appointment of Peseiro as Head Coach but later denied. In the statement, it said: “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.”
“The Executive Committee also mandated the Technical and Development Committee as well as the NFF Secretariat to organise a friendly match for the Super Eagles when the team arrives in Garoua for the AFCON 2021, and also to arrange matches for the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons in the upcoming FIFA windows for international friendlies.”
First published in Global Upfront Newspapers (GUN) on May 15, 2022