Peseiro happy with Nigeria's performance despite defeat against Mexico

Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro believes his players displayed good character despite losing 2-1 against Mexico in an international friendly at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

The 62-year-old Portuguese international took charge of his first Super Eagles match and they conceded with only 12 minutes played when Santiago Gimenez hit the back of the net before Feyenoord striker Cyriel Dessers levelled matters for them in the 54th minute.

However, two minutes after moving level, Watford defender William Troost-Ekong turned a cross into his own net to hand El Tri victory.

“In the first half, Mexico was much better than us but in the second half I think we had more balance,” Peseiro told reporters after the game as quoted by Completesports.

“I am not happy that we lost but I’m happy with the performance of my players because they showed character, especially after what Mexico did in the first half. I think in the second half there was an improvement.”

Peseiro’s sentiments were echoed by Everton winger Alex Iwobi, who believes they had picked a lot of positives from the game despite going down.

“A lot of positives to take after today’s friendly… we go again!” the former Arsenal player wrote on his Twitter handle.

Meanwhile, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Amaju Pinnick is confident Peseiro will revive the Super Eagles.

“I am happy with what we put up out there. It was the first time after the disappointment of the World Cup playoff and you can say this is a makeshift team, while Mexico had their full-strength squad out there,” Pinnick said.

“I like what I saw today and I have confidence that we have appointed the right coach that can restore the glory of the Super Eagles and make them start winning once more.”

Peseiro was appointed on a permanent basis to replace Augustine Eguavoen, who was in charge of the Super Eagles during the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon where they failed to get past the Round of 16.

Eguavoen was also in charge when Nigeria failed to claim their 2022 World Cup finals ticket after losing to Ghana on the away goals rule. Peseiro will take charge of his second game when Nigeria face Ecuador at Red Bull Arena on June 3.