On Sunday, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) announced the appointment of Portuguese-born Jose Peseiro as the new head coach of the Super Eagles. The announcement brings to a conclusion the search for a new manager for Nigeria's senior national team following the sacking of Gernot Rohr in mid-December and Augustine Eguavoen's ill-fated tenure as interim manager.
There is little known about Peseiro with perhaps Jose Mourinho's reported glowing recommendation being the most popular fact about the 61-year-old at the moment. So here are five things you should know about the Super Eagles' new coach.
Extensive experience in Europe and Arab countries
Peseiro comes to the Super Eagles with almost two decades of coaching experience, taking up his first managerial position in 1992 with UD Santarem in his native Portugal.
Since then, the 61-year-old has had spells with Sporting Lisbon, Braga, Panathinaikos, FC Porto, Real Madrid, and Rapid Bucharest, all in Europe.
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Peseiro has also managed Al Ahly, Al Hilal, Al-Wahda FC, and Sharjah FC all in Arab countries. As a national team coach, he took charge of Saudi Arabia between February 2009 and January 2011 with his most recent job being as the coach of the Venezuelan national side between February 2020 and August 2021.
Former Real Madrid assistant coach
This is perhaps the most high-profile job the Coruche-born manager has been in. After taking Portuguese side CD Nacional from the third-tier to the First Division within three seasons, Peseiro was appointed as Carlos Queiroz's assistant manager at Real Madrid for the 2003/04 season.
However, his stay along with his principal was short-lived as the Portuguese pair was dismissed after just one season following an underwhelming league campaign where Real Madrid finished fourth behind Valencia, Barcelona, Deportivo La Coruna.
Career trophies: Two
Peseiro has won only two trophies throughout his coaching career - the Portuguese Cup with Braga in 2013 and the Egyptian Premier League with Al Ahly in 2016. The Portuguese manager has experience leading teams to the latter stages in competitions but falls short of winning the titles.
The most popular case of this was with Sporting Lisbon in 2005 when his side lost the Portuguese League to Benfica by four points despite being one point ahead with four games left and also losing the UEFA Cup final the same season by a 3-1 scoreline despite leading 1-0 at half-time and in their home stadium.
Record with national teams
Peseiro's record on the international stage is not the best with two underwhelming spells with Saudi Arabia and Venezuela hardly projecting hope in the Portuguese.
With Saudi Arabia, Peseiro oversaw 17 matches winning six, drawing seven, and losing four for a win rate of just 35 percent. He failed to qualify Saudi Arabia for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was sacked after losing to Syria in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
Peseiro's record with Venezuela is not much better, winning only once in 10 matches with three draws and six losses to boot for a miserly win rate of 10%. His tenure with the South Americans ended in an acrimonious fashion after the coach was owed salaries for over a year.
Trivia facts about Peseiro
Per Transfermarkt, Peseiro prefers to play in a 5-4-1 formation, a markedly defensive set-up that might raise eyebrows with Nigerian fans who clamoured for a break from a similar conservative style under the departed Rohr. He holds a UEFA Pro Licence and has an average time in a job of 1.21 years spanning 20 jobs in 19 years of management.