Eagles ‘senior players’ want Peseiro axed

Amid poor run of results in their two opening matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, some senior Super Eagles fear the national team has become rudderless under Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro.

The Super Eagles recorded an identical 1-1 draw against Lesotho and Zimbabwe and now sit in third position behind Rwanda and South Africa in their Group C section, much to the chagrin of Nigerians.

But words are now rife within the rank and file of the national team that some players are no longer comfortable playing under Peseiro even as many now query his suitability for both the 2026 World Cup campaign and the forthcoming delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) next year in Cote d’Ivoire.

“Take this from me, most of the Super Eagles stars especially the senior ones, are no longer happy playing under Peseiro,“ a confidante of one of the players told NationSport yesterday on condition of anonymity.

He continued: “It would be difficult for any of the players to openly call for the sack of Peseiro, but the truth is that they are not happy playing under him. Some of them can’t even believe why he would be shouting at them.

“Besides, some are also not at home with his tactics and deployment of the players in matches because he is not even exploring the strengths of the team.”

But a Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) chieftain told our correspondent the Super Eagles would weather the current storm despite the misgivings of many stakeholders.

While the NFF are groaning over the financial implication of firing the under-performing Peseiro, former international and national U-23 goalkeeper coach, Etta Egbe, said yesterday that the Super Eagles would continue to suffer with the Portuguese coach keeping goalkeeper Francis Uzoho as the team’s number one goalkeeper.

“I’m still surprised that since our last match where the guy (Uzoho) embarrassed us and they still kept him there, you (Peseiro) still can’t raise a better goalkeeper,” Egbe lamented on Brila FM. “But he’s still saying he (Uzoho) remains the best; imagine a goalkeeper being beaten from 35 yards and even at my age, you can’t beat me straight away from 35 yards.”