Nigeria national team manager Jose Peseiro is set to extend his current contract with the nation’s football federation. The postponement of the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 has led to Nigeria wanting to extend Peseiro’s contract to cover the new date for the tournament.
The AFCON 2023 tournament finals were originally scheduled for June of next year in the Ivory Coast. However, due to the extreme weather conditions of Western Africa in the summer season, the tournament postponed.
The next Africa Cup of Nations will be held in January 2024 during winter in the Ivory Coast. Fans are already debating which team will win the tournament, but before the next Africa Cup of Nations finals, the FIFA World Cup will be played in Qatar. Betking sports bettors are debating which nation will win the World Cup. Learn how to download the Betking app here and get the latest bet codes before wagering on the World Cup this year.
Peseiro was appointed manager of the Nigerian national team in May 2022 to oversee the team during the Africa Cup of Nations. He initially signed a one-year contract which will expire in less than 12 months’ time. The Nigeria Football Federation now wants to keep the 62-year-old Portuguese manager at the helm of the national side.
Peseiro is well-travelled having managed 18 different club or national teams. He has managed Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto, and also worked as an assistant manager at Real Madrid under Carlos Queiroz. Peseiro has also manager the Saudi Arabia and Venezuela national teams.
Since taking over Nigeria, Peseiro has led the national team to back-to-back wins in Africa Cup of Nations 2023 qualifying. Nigeria defeated Sierra Leone in a come from behind 2-1 victory before downing Sao Tome and Principe 10-0. Nigeria are set to play Guinea–Bissau in September on matchday No. 3 and matchday No. 4 of qualifying.
Peseiro hasn’t stayed long term at any of his recent jobs. In 2012-13, he managed 47 games as the head coach of Sporting Braga in Portugal. Since then, he hasn’t coached more than 31 games with any one club or national side.
Prior to joining up with Nigeria, Peseiro coached the Venezuela national team from February 2020 to August 2021. He coached just 10 matches with Venezuela before departing. After a poor CONMEBOL Gold Cup campaign in 2021, Peseiro left the job.
The three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners haven’t won the competition since 2013. The Super Eagles qualified for just two of the last four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Thus far, under the management of Peseiro, Nigeria have posted a record of 2W-0D-2L. After losing back-to-back friendlies against Mexico and Ecuador, Nigeria posted consecutive wins in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.
Nigeria are blessed with some of Africa’s top players including Emmanuel Dennis, Victor Osimhen, and Calvin Bassey. Osimhen scored four of Nigeria’s 10 goals against Sao Tome and Principe in qualifying. A new contract for Peseiro would keep him with the national side until the end of the Africa Cup of Nations finals at the very least.
