My players begged me to stay – Jose Peseiro reveals why he took pay cut to remain Super Eagles coach

Super Eagles head coach, Jose Santos Peseiro, has revealed the rationale behind his decision to accept a pay cut to stay in charge of Nigeria’s national team, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Portuguese was initially appointed Nigeria’s coach in May 2022, after Austin Egueavoen failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His contract expired in June 2023, before his renewal was confirmed by the NFF, with the 63-year-old taking a pay cut.

Set to take the team to new heights at the 2024 AFCON, the ex-Porto manager revealed his players played a huge role in his decision to accept a pay cut to stay in charge of the team.

“The players pushed me to stay because they believe we can win the AFCON. We can win it. The players know it. They come with the same energy, the same belief, to fight for the Super Eagles,” the manager said in quotes revealed by Punch.

Peseiro did however, send a sound note of warning to his players, telling them they need to be at their best to reach the latter stages of the AFCON tournament next year in Cote d’Ivoire next January.

“We will need to be at our maximum because we know that there is good opposition. There is Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana and Ivory Coast. But we believe we can do it. I believe. And the players believe,” he added.

The Super Eagles have adopted “let’s do it again” as the motto of their 2024 AFCON campaign and will face hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in Group A.

The Super Eagles will take on Equatorial Guinea in their opening fixture at the Alhassan Quattara Stadium on Monday, January 14. Four days later, they’ll face the host nation, before going up against Guinea Bissau on January 22, 2024, in the final group game.