Nigeria appoints Portuguese Coach Jose Peseiro as Rohr’s replacement

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Portuguese Coach, Jose Peseiro as the new Super Eagles coach to replace the sacked Gernot Rohr.

The appointment of the former Porto and Venezuela National Team manager who had previously worked in Africa with Al Ahly of Egypt, was announced on Wednesday by the NFF, putting and end to rounds of speculations by football lovers.

The 61-year-old previously worked at Panathinaikos, Real Madrid, Sporting CP, Al Ahly, Braga and most recently as Venezuela national team coach, before he resigned in August over unpaid salary.

Peseiro will be with the Super Eagles in Cameroon but in an observer role with technical director Austin Eguavoen charged to lead the three-time African champions.

The Portuguese manager will immediately assume his new duty after the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria aiming to qualify for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

“After careful consideration of a memo presented by Chairman of the Technical and Development Sub-Committee, the Executive Committee endorsed a proposal for the appointment of Mr Jose Peseiro as the new head coach of the Super Eagles, following the end to the relationship with Mr Gernot Rohr,” the NFF said in a statement while makine the announcement of the new coach.

“However, the committee resolved that Mr Augustine Eguavoen, named the interim head coach, will lead the Super Eagles to the Afcon 2021 in Cameroon with Mr Peseiro only playing the role of observer.

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“It was unanimously agreed that the Afcon is a good avenue for Mr Peseiro to launch a working relationship with Mr Eguavoen, who will revert to his role as Technical Director (hence Mr Peseiro’s immediate boss) after the Afcon.

“The Executive Committee mandated the Technical and Development Committee as well as the NFF Secretariat to organize a friendly match for the Super Eagles when the team arrives in Garoua for the Afcon 2021, and also to arrange matches for the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons in upcoming Fifa windows for international friendlies,” the statement added.