Nigerian soccer has been thrown into shock after the Super Eagles have been held to a 1-1 residence draw by Lesotho in a 2026 World Cup qualifier, with anger directed at Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro.
Nigeria needed to come from behind in opposition to Lesotho, ranked 153rd by FIFA, within the recreation performed on Thursday within the southern Nigerian metropolis of Uyo
Despite the absence by means of harm of star ahead Victor Osimhen of Napoli, Nigeria had been anticipated to make a successful begin to their World Cup qualifying marketing campaign.
Peseiro, 63, has been made the scapegoat.
The well-travelled former Venezuela coach was by no means a well-liked selection to move the three-time African champions, however the resolution to increase his contract until subsequent 12 months’s Africa Cup of Nations has drawn criticism.
Nigeria had gained all three head-to-head conferences in opposition to the southern Africans earlier than Thursday’s draw.
Former Nigeria worldwide defender Ifeanyi Udeze mentioned he was enraged by the “unacceptable” outcome.
“This was our first World Cup qualifier in front of the home fans and we couldn’t beat Lesotho.
“This was a match not against Cameroon or the Ivory Coast or Ghana. This was a loss.”
Analyst David Mikel Okoye blamed the disappointing begin by the Eagles squarely on Peseiro.
“That the Super Eagles will go nowhere with Jose Peseiro’s absolutely limited tactical nous is no secret,” he mentioned. “The man does not know how best to utilize this team and he keeps picking the wrong personnel per game with a limiting formation.”
Sports journalist Wale Ajayi mentioned it was a mistake to resume the contract of the Portuguese coach.
“Peseiro has to go, he’s a bad coach,” he mentioned. “Renewing his contract was renewing disaster.”
Peseiro himself blamed dangerous luck for the draw.
“I am sad of course, disappointed by the result, but my team tried to do the maximum,” he mentioned.
“We had 76% of the ball possession against 24%, the opponents only had two chances to score and scored a goal. We had many chances to score. It was bad luck,” he added.
Nigeria didn’t qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and was knocked out of the final Africa Cup of Nations on the last-16 stage by Tunisia.
