The Nigerian football federation (NFF) has appointed Portuguese football tactician José Vitor dos Santos Peseiro to take over as the new coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. He takes over from Augustine “Cerezo” Equavoen, who resigned from his position as the head coach of the Super Eagles on Thursday, March 31, 2022, after failing to qualify the team for the forthcoming FIFA 2022 World Cup scheduled to take place in Qatar.
Ademola Olajire, NFF’s Director of Communications, in a statement said Peseiro’s appointment is with immediate effect and subject to the signing of agreed terms between him and the Federation.
The NFF also announced that former Nigeria international forward, Finidi George, will be the First Assistant to Peseiro, with former Super Eagles midfielder Salisu Yusuf the Second Assistant.
“Yusuf will also be the Head Coach of the Nigerian team to the Championship of African Nations (CHAN), as well as the Under-23 National Teams.
“Usman Abdallah is the Third Assistant while Eboboritse Uwejamomere will be the Match Analyst.
”Another former Nigeria international, Ike Shorounmu, will be the Goalkeepers’ Trainer,” Olajire stated.
He also disclosed that José Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, who turned 62 last month, is a Portuguese who played as a striker in his days.
“He has wide and varied experience coaching clubs and national teams across four different continents, namely Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.
“An educationist with a degree in Physical Education/Sports Sciences, Peseiro has top-level coaching qualifications/training.
”He has coached at Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto, Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucharest, Sporting Braga, Vitoria Gumaraes, Al-Hilal, Al-Wahda, Al-Ahly Cairo, Sharjah FC and Real Madrid as an assistant.
”The Portuguese also served as Head Coach of the Saudi Arabian and Venezuelan National Teams,” the NFF spokesman said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Peseiro is expected to lead out the Super Eagles for the first time during the upcoming tour of the U.S.
During the tour, the three-time African champions will face Mexico and Ecuador ‘A’ Teams in prestige friendlies.
The Eagles will face El Tri at the AT & T Stadium in Dallas, State of Texas on May 28 before heading to New Jersey to take on Ecuador at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison on June 2.
Read also: What to know about FIFA 2022 World Cup draw
Who is José Vitor dos Santos Peseiro?
Peseiro is a Portuguese football tactician born on April 4, 1960 in Coruche, Portugal. As a player in the Segunda Liga division side, Sport Lisboa e Cartaxo, he commanded a prominent role as a bullish striker that not only created opportunities for other strikers to flourish but contributed greatly to the overall goals tally for the team during the 1978/1979 session.
In the Portuguese professional league, he later went on to represent Amora FC, Clube Oriental de Lisboa, GD Samora Correia, and S.C.U. Torreense, all based in the Segunda Liga division.
He retired as a footballer at the age of 34 at the end of the 1993/1994 season in the fourth based division side, União de Santarém.
After retiring as a player, he went on to coach professional football clubs in Portugal and Eastern Europe, as well as two stints with the Saudi Arabia and Venezuela national teams.His most successful time as a coach was with the Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon CP in 2005, where he lost the 2005 UEFA Cup Final to CSKA Moscow.
After leaving Sporting Lisbon CP, he took over as coach of Greek top division side Panathainakos, and later Romanian side FC Rapid București.
In 2009, he took over from Nasser Al-Johar to coach the Saudi Arabia national team to the qualifying round of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, only for him to fail in his attempt to qualify the country for the sporting festival.
He was eventually sacked after he lost to Syria in the AFC Asian Cup in 2011.
He went to coach Sporting Braga, Al-Wahda, Al-Ahly, FC Porto, Sharjah FC, Vitoria S.C, Sporting SP, and the Venezuelan senior men’s national team.
Unfortunately, the common trend, which may be subjective, was that he always ended up getting fired due to poor performance on the pitch or resigning due to unpaid salaries, as in the case of Venezuela, which understandably was undergoing a serious economic crisis.
