'He should take his largesse and go' - Segun Odegbami gives take on Jose Peseiro’s situation with the NFF

Nigerian football icon Segun Odegbami has issued a vote of no confidence on Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro despite reaching the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Super Eagles had an impressive run to the final of the 2023 AFCON in Ivory despite their struggles before the start of the competition. Unfortunately, they suffered a painful 2-1 loss to Ivory Coast in the final.

Nonetheless, the team was handsomely rewarded, as the player and staff were honoured with the Member of the Order of the Niger title and landed properties in the nation’s capital.

Meanwhile, Coach Peseiro’s contract was supposed to expire at the end of February, but the NFF failed to agree on a new deal with the Portuguese tactician.

Then, on March 1, Peseiro shared a post on social media, stating that his time with Nigeria was done. He also thanked the Super Eagles players and the NFF for their cooperation.

Since then, there have been a lot of conversations about whether the NFF should employ a new coach or give Peseiro an improved deal.

Nigerian football legend Odegbami has weighed in on the topic, and he believes that Peseiro can not do better than what he did in Ivory Coast.

“For 22 months, he (Peseiro) did his best for Nigeria, but his best was obviously not good enough when the team was preparing to go for AFCON,” Peseiro told Arise TV.

“But through the four weeks of AFCON, there was relief because the team came up, started to do fairly well and got to the finals.

“He was handsomely rewarded in such a way that he created history. I don’t think any coach in the history of football has ever been that lavishly rewarded not for coming first, but for coming second.

“Peseiro insisted that his mandate was to get to the semi-final of the AFCON. For some of us, that was not good enough. Our dream for Nigerian football is to be among the best in the world.

“So, when you have someone whose ambition is to get to the semi-finals of an African cup, definitely he does not get to that mark.

“As far as we are concerned, he has done well, he has served the country, delivered on his own personal mandate, and has been handsomely rewarded. He should just take his largesse to his country and enjoy himself because for where we are heading, he can not deliver from what we saw at the AFCON."

The Nigeria Football Federation have to make a decision soon, as the 2025 AFCON qualifiers are just a few weeks away. If they continue to delay, it will affect the Super Eagles negatively.