Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Idah Peterside has compared the differences in the Super Eagles squad under former head coach Jose Peseiro and current interim coach Augustine Eguavoen.
Recall that Peseiro was the coach of the Super Eagles until March 2024 when he left his position upon the expiration of his contract.
The Portuguese led Nigeria to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, where they lost to Ivory Coast 2-1.
Following Peseiro’s exit from the Super Eagles, Finidi George was made the interim coach and was subsequently given the position permanently by the Nigeria Football Federation.
But Finidi resigned from his position after failing to record a victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Benin and South Africa a few months ago.
Following Finidi’s exit, the NFF ultimately appointed Eguavoen as interim coach.
Eguavoen led the Super Eagles against Benin and Rwanda in the AFCON qualifiers in September.
Asked about the differences between the Super Eagles under Peseiro and Eguavoen, Peterside told Channels Television:
“Let’s go back to the finals. For me, the finals and the game we played against South Africa were the killer for me. After those games, I just said sack this coach [Peseiro] and when the coach of South Africa came online, came on air, I was in South Africa then, and he said he was shocked to hear the Nigerian coach say don’t go forward, don’t cross the line, defend and he is like with this kind of players, with this kind of capacity.
“We have the best set of players in Africa. Look at their names, Iwobi, Osimhen, you know, Lookman, we have some of the best players. You can’t cage these kinds of players, you give them expression, Austin [Eguavoen] has done that.
“We had an expression in Uyo, we scored three goals, we had an expression in Kigali, the goalkeeper saved them, they carried the goalkeeper after the end of the game, which means we came out to attack, this is what they are talking about.
“When this team begins to build and play with this kind of confidence, we would be absolutely unstoppable and he made some decisions that we are happy about.
“You know he benched Osimhen, not because Osimhen wasn’t good enough because Osimhen hasn’t played any competitive game yet and it would be dangerous for the player to just put him into a tournament or into a game, he will get injured, that was professionally handled.
“The game against Benin, Iwobi didn’t play well right and he was comfortable enough not to play him in the second game, that is leadership for me.
“Eguavoen was the captain when we played, he was the captain of the national team, so he is a big boy now, he is part of the system and he is making the right decision. It is just for me, we are on the right channel.”
Super Eagles: Peterside compares Eguavoen to Peseiro
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