FOLLOWING A DEVASTATING LOSS TO LESOTHO IN A WORLD CUP QUALIFIER, THE NIGERIAN COACH IS CRITICIZED.

Babatunji Wusu –

After the Super Eagles were defeated to a 1-1 home draw by Lesotho in a 2026 World Cup qualifier, anger was aimed towards Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro, sending Nigerian football into disarray.

In the match played on Thursday in the southern Nigerian city of Uyo, Nigeria had to come from behind against Lesotho, which is ranked 153rd by FIFA.

Even though Napoli’s top attacker Victor Osimhen was sidelined due to injury, Nigeria was predicted to have a strong World Cup qualifying campaign.

The scapegoat has been identified as Peseiro, 63.

Although the decision to prolong the well-traveled former Venezuelan coach’s contract till the Africa Cup of Nations next year has received criticism, he was never a popular pick to lead the three-time African champions.

Prior to Thursday’s stalemate, Nigeria had defeated the southern Africans in their three previous meetings head-to-head.

Ifeanyi Udeze, a former Nigerian international defender, expressed his anger at the “unacceptable” outcome.

“We couldn’t defeat Lesotho in this, our first World Cup qualifier in front of home supporters.

This was not a match versus Ghana, the Ivory Coast, or Cameroon. It was a defeat.

Peseiro was singled out by analyst David Mikel Okoye for the Eagles’ unimpressive start.

It’s no secret, he argued, that Jose Peseiro’s utterly inadequate tactical acumen will prevent the Super Eagles from winning. “The guy keeps selecting the wrong players for each game with a limiting formation; he has no idea how to use this team to its full potential.”

Sports writer Wale Ajayi said that the Portuguese coach’s contract should not have been renewed.

He declared, “Peseiro needs to go; he’s a bad coach.” “His contract renewal was a renewal of disaster.”

Peseiro himself attributed the draw to misfortune.

He remarked, “My team did our best, but I am sad and disappointed by the outcome.”

“We controlled the ball for 76% of the time compared to 24% for the opposition, who only had two opportunities to score and win a goal. We had numerous opportunities to score. It was misfortune,” he continued.

Nigeria was eliminated by Tunisia in the last-16 of the last Africa Cup of Nations, and the country was unable to secure a spot in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.