Typical of a serial failure, Super Eagles’ newly appointed Head Coach, Jose Santos Peseiro’s debut with the three-time African Champions ended in two defeats. His team lost 1-2 against Mexico on Saturday, May 28 before last Thursday’s 0-1 loss to Ecuador.
For those who read my opinion of May 22, 2022 in Daily Trust on Sunday and followed up with a quick background check on the Portuguese, his poor start to life with the Super Eagles wasn’t surprising. They already know that his name is nearly synonymous with defeat.
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It is for this reason that some of us were highly sceptical when the former coach of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela was appointed to lead the Super Eagles. His steady mishaps with other countries and clubs he handled before now has left many Nigerians wondering how he is going to turn around the fortunes of a national team in dire need of sound technical assistance.
Unfortunately, the two friendly matches against Mexico and Ecuador offered Peseiro the opportunity to prove to doubting Thomases that he has the ability to lead the Super Eagles but he simply failed even if not woefully.
Had he won or drawn at least one of the two matches, that could have gone a long way in reducing the growing cynicism over his technical know-how or suitability for the Super Eagles.
He allowed the golden opportunity slip through his fingers and those who received his appointment with so much scepticism can confidently maintain their position that he is not good enough. This may not be far from the truth because a coach is as good as his last match.
So far, Peseiro has shown that he is just an average white coach who is in town to lead a collection of average players whose wish is to be rated among the best in the world.
The squad that prosecuted the two friendly matches was dominated by the same Super Eagles players who have become notorious in breaking the hearts of Nigerian football fans. They, therefore, didn’t launder Peseiro’s pathetic image.
Even as the matches were played at odd hours, maybe to keep the prying eyes of the ever-critical fans, the highlights of the two matches showed that to a large extent the team still played like sheep without a shepherd.
Well, like a poor workman who is quick to find fault with his tools, after his second defeat, Peseiro blamed the loss on poor officiating and the absence of video assistant referees (VAR). For the first defeat against Mexico, his vice-captain, William-Troost Ekong who scored a fantastic own goal to deny the Super Eagles at least a draw was the one the coach tactically blamed.
While Peseiro was busy finding scapegoats, Amaju Pinnick, the man who almost single-handedly decided that the Portuguese is good enough to handle the Nigerian senior national team chose to sing the praises of the players.
He urged Nigerians to look more at the renewed spirit exhibited by the players in the back-to-back losses in the USA. As if the other teams played at full strength, Pinnick tried to make everyone believe that the Super Eagles lost the matches because some of their best legs were missing.
Well, the friendlies have come and gone. Up next for the Portuguese and the Super Eagles is the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe.
The new coach has already released the list of invited players for the two matches scheduled for June 9 and 13. As expected, Peseiro has maintained his predecessor’s team selection tradition. The list is made up of almost 100 per cent foreign based Super Eagles.
Out of eight NPFL stars who made the recent fruitless trip to the USA, only goalkeeper Adewale Adeyinka of Akwa United and defender Faisal Sani of Katsina United are left in the list of Super Eagles for the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.
This means the future of the home-based players in the Super Eagles is as bleak as ever. It is imperative to note that the list for the friendly matches in the USA which had eight home based players was produced by the erstwhile first assistant coach Salisu Yusuf. Peseiro only inherited the list.
Therefore, the Portuguese’s list only suggests that if he were around at the beginning, most of the NPFL players wouldn’t have travelled with him to the USA.
What is indeed baffling is that we keep repeating the same thing while expecting different results. Even a blind man can see that over reliance on over-rated foreign based players has been the bane of the Super Eagles. Unfortunately, it is becoming glaring that those who have vested interest in these indolent players won’t stop forcing them on national team coaches.
These same players that have been invited for the AFCON qualifiers wilfully broke the hearts of millions of Nigerians when they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Patriotism and national pride is alien to most of them.
Even though it is not good to throw away the baby with the bathwater, when the 2022 World Cup disaster happened right before our eyes in Abuja, many thought some of the players would honourably exit the stage. Well, they are still preferred to some of the young and hungry for fame home-based players.
Since it has become clear that those in charge of Nigerian football are not ready to repent, the safest thing to do is to always exercise cautious optimism when supporting the Super Eagles.
Alexander Pope once said “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”
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