Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro is delighted with the progress the Super Eagles have made in his short tenure following their two victories against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this month.
Peseiro became Super Eagles coach last month with his first assignment being friendly matches against Mexico and Ecuador which Nigeria lost 2-1 and 1-0, respectively.
After making some changes to his team, they began their journey to next year’s Afcon in Cote d’Ivoire by beating Sierra Leone 2-1 before thrashing Sao Tome 10-0 on Monday.
The Portuguese coach feels the twin wins have put Nigeria on the path to better things after enduring a poor first half of the year that saw them knocked out of the 2021 Afcon at the Round of 16 before missing out on a ticket to the World Cup.
“We achieved our goal of points won, grew as a group and conquered a historical record, always based on fundamental values, team spirit and mutual help,” said Peseiro.
He added: “We made the Nigerian nation proud. We are focused on improving our work to achieve our goals. @NGSuperEagles #SoarSuperEagles.”
The Super Eagles lead Group A with maximum points from their two games with Guinea Bissau second on four points while Sierra Leone have one from their draw with the latter.
Nigeria’s next match is September against Guinea Bissau whom they will play home and away and Peseiro can endear himself to the fans, who have been disgruntled for the batter part of the year, with victories which will guarantee early qualification.
There have been signs of a Nigeria rebirth since the Portuguese took over with their organisation at the back and counter-pressing among the positives to pick up from his first four matches in charge.
Nigeria’s ball recoveries and set-piece routines were other aspects of their game that seems to have changed as they were quick to get tighter to their opponents whenever they lost possession while trying to catch them out with short, quick corners and free-kicks.
Tougher tests will ultimately come for Nigeria but Peseiro will hope that his team would have completely grasped his tactics by then.
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