Coach Jose Peseiro is at the end of the heavy fire that has followed the Super Eagles disappointing 1-1 home draw with little Lesotho in an opening 2026 World Cup qualifier today.
The 63-year-old Portuguese coach was never a popular choice to head the three-time African champions, but the decision to extend his contract till next year’s AFCON was even a lot more baffling.
The Super Eagles loaded with players who feature for some of Europe’s top clubs are ranked the 40th best team in the world, while the Crocodiles from Lesotho are a distant 153rd.
Nigeria have won all three head-to-head meetings against the Southern Africans, before today’s morale-boosting draw with their more illustrious opponents.
An analyst, David Mikel Okoye, blamed the disappointing start by the Eagles to the 2026 World Cup qualifying series squarely on the doorsteps of Peseiro.
“That the Super Eagles will go nowhere with Jose Peseiro’s absolutely limited tactical nous is no secret,” he said.
“The man does not know how best to utilise this team and he keeps picking the wrong personnel per game with a limiting formation.
“He is tactically blind and we are doomed for it.”
Journalist Wale Ajayi said it was a mistake to renew the contract of the Portuguese coach.
“Peseiro has to go, he’s a bad coach,” he declared.
“Renewing his contract was renewing disaster.”
“Like everything else in Nigeria we’re downgrading. Went from Rohr to Peseiro. Super Eagles won’t make the World Cup again and this Nations Cup will be an embarrassment,” another disappointed fan predicted.
However, Isaac Ejiga, a public servant, argued that the players must take responsibility for the draw.
“We ought to blame the players who did not play as if something was at stake, they played as if they were playing a friendly match,” he reasoned.
“We missed a player like (Victor) Osimhen today, not just because of his goals, but because of the hunger and commitment he displays on the pitch, he pushes other players to fight.”
Peseiro himself blamed the draw to “bad luck”.
The coach is a disaster; he is only fit to be a games master in a primary school setting. Worse still, his choice of Uzoho, a kindergarten goalkeeper, reveals a lot about his technical ineptitude.
If he remains as the team coach, even id the team wombles their way to quality for the world cup, it would be disgraced out in the very first round.