Peseiro says farewell to Nigeria as his Super Eagles contract with the NFF formally expires

SUPER Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro has formally stood down from his job following the expiration of his contract at the end of February leaving the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) free to begin the process of searching for a new manager.

Peseiro, 63, recently led the Super Eagles to the final of the African Cup of Nations, where they lost out to hosts Ivory Coast. Despite getting to the final of the tournament, Mr Peseiro was never going to continue as Super Eagles head coach as the relationship between himself and the NFF had become fraught of late, making a separation inevitable.

Over the last few weeks, Mr Peseiro had been negotiating with the Algerian federation but they decided to go for Croatian coach Vladimir Petkovic. Speculation has it that the NFF has already drawn up a three-man shortlist of coaches and now that Mr Peseiro's contract has formally ended, the NFF can start the process of recruitment as they no longer have to pay him any compensation.

Mr Peseiro took the Super Eagles job in May 2022 after coach Augustine Eguavoen failed to secure the World Cup ticket. Employed by the former NFF president Amaju Pinnick, Mr Peseiro had just left the Venezuela job and there were many doubts about his ability because of his average record.

These fears were exacerbated after he lost his first two games in charge but he bounced back, beating Sierra Leone in his third game and demolishing Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 in his fourth match in charge. Since then, however, his results have not been inspiring, with the Eagles drawing their first two World Cup qualifiers.

Mr Peseiro's contract formally ended on February 29 and he took to social media to announce that he has formally parted ways with Nigeria. On his X handle, he wrote: "Yesterday, we concluded our contract with the NFF.

“It was a pride and honour to coach the Super Eagles. It has been 22 months of immense dedication, sacrifice, emotion, and enormous enthusiasm. We feel a sense of fulfilment.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Sir Amaju Pinnick the president who signed us, president Ibrahim Gusau, general secretary Mohammed Sanusi, team secretary Dayo Enebi, the NFF, all the staff, and especially all the players, with whom leading has been a great pleasure. Guys, we are thankful, it has been a privilege to be part of this family, we will miss you but we will always be there for you, no matter where you are. A big hug to all of you."

Nigeria will now begin the process of finding a new manager and the situation is urgent as the Super Eagles will likely play a friendly later this month and the World Cup qualifiers resume in June. NFF president Ibrahim Gusau is expected to lead interviews with potential coaches, along with members of his board.