Peseiro’s Odyssey With The Super Eagles: A Tapestry of Success And Unfinished Threads of Improvement
By Chidiebere Sullivan Nwuguru
The 2024 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) was a rollercoaster of emotions for Nigerians. First, no one, including me, ever thought the Super Eagles would journey up to the final round of the competition, especially with how they struggled through their matches for the World Cup qualification, prior to the start of the just concluded AFCON tournament. Although the Super Eagles ended up not lifting the trophy, their impressive run through the competition is a noteworthy performance; an outing I sincerely commend Peseiro for.
It was a widespread consensus among Nigerian football lovers before the commencement of this year’s AFCON tournament, that the Super Eagles coach, Jose Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, was not good enough for the Super Eagles and should be sacked immediately after the tournament, which we all believed was going to be a very short one for the Eagles. However, things changed immediately after the first group stage match of the Eagles, as they became better and better after every match they played. The question that now begs for an answer is: What did Peseiro do differently with the Eagles that saw them become the talk of the world, up until the final match of the tournament, where they lost narrowly to the host nation, Ivory Coast, thereby settling for the silver medal from the tournament?
From my football perspective, I saw Peseiro as a coach who finally understood his teams weakness and strength, and figured out through the tournament how to maximise his team’s strengths, while also masking the team’s weaknesses. Looking through the Super Eagle’s squad, we would see that lately we have been unable to find an ideal “trequartista”, a creative midfielder, or a “regista”(director); these are part of the things Peseiro figured out and decided to deploy the Italian “catenaccio” to see the Eagles contend fiercely for the trophy.
In the days back, we had Jay Jay Okocha, a perfect example of a creative midfielder who creates play for the team. There was also Kanu Nwankwo who fitted in well as a perfect example of a “trequartista”, which is an Italian word that loosely translates to “three quarters”, and is referred to so because this kind of midfielder often plays just three quarters away from the opponent’s goal post, and tends to control the play within this area; making assists to the teammates and scoring goals as well. In 2013, which was the last time the Super Eagles clinched the AFCON trophy, we had John mikel Obi who was a good example of a “regista”, which is also an Italian word used to describe the kind of midfielders who are mostly seen as “directors” in the field of play, primarily because they aim to direct their team’s play with their distribution skill and passing ability.
However, in the current Super Eagles team, we lack players who can effectively fit into these kinds of midfielders and this is not to say that we lack quality players, however, we needed to explore a system that would cover up for these lacks and maximise the positions where we have quality talents in. This was what the gaffer, Peseiro, did by deploying the Italian “Catenaccio” throughout the tournament. Catenaccio is an Italian defensive football tactic that gained popularity in the 1960s. The term "Catenaccio" translates to "door bolt" or "chain" in Italian, indicating the emphasis on a highly organized and rigid defensive structure. With the trio of Ekong, Kelvin Bassey, and Semi Ajayi, the fluidity of our wing-backs, and the solid composure of our goalkeeper, Nwabili, the Eagles displayed what is arguably the best defensive line throughout the tournament.
Anyone who keenly watched and followed the Super Eagles’ system of play throughout the tournament, would see how Peseiro employed the resilience of his available midfielders through the services of Iwobi, Onyeka, Yusuf, and Aribo, and played to the strength of his team by spreading the play from the wings with Lookman and Moses Simon being his arsenals of attack from the wings, while Osimhen remained his point man at the front. At the back, he had a strong defense line with Ekong as the leader, while Zaidu and Ola Aina played the role of wing-backs. With these arrangements, the Super Eagles not only had a beautiful outing but also contended fiercely for the trophy.
Beyond the tournament, I think the Eagles should not always rely on the Catenaccio system of play, and if we must, there should be more options to explore for the wing-backs, and more efforts should be geared towards mastering the system of play very well. Of course, it worked perfectly for the Italian national team, who popularised the system of play in the 1960s; Mourinho's Chelsea equally did well with the same system of play in the early 2000s. Additionally, with proper scouting, we could find creative midfielders and or “regista” who would change the pattern of our play.
Overall, I applaud the whole team, and the gaffer, Peseiro, for their gorgeous outing, I believe we will win the trophy next year in Morocco. Until then, the Eagles made us proud regardless and deserve flowers, so what are you waiting for before offering them a banquet of roses?
