Jose Peseiro Breaks Silence after the Super Eagles Ended their Winless Streak.
The Super Eagles recorded their first win over the Mambas of Mozambique at the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira in Portugal. The win was the first for the Super Eagles in a friendly match after 16 outings in 55 months since the last time Nigeria won in March 2019.
The Eagles were prepared for the game after a thrilling encounter with Saudi Arabia on Friday. To ensure that the team responded, the Super Eagle boss reshuffled his squad and made nine changes to the team that started against the Mambas, with Francis Uzoho maintaining his place in the squad.
In a shocking turn of events, the mambas took a short lead through Geny Catamo’s seventh-minute opener which was aided by Uzoho’s error.
Nigeria dominated and created chances to equal while the Mamba’s excellent goalkeeper
resisted all the efforts but thanks to an excellent strike by Moffi to level up.
Super Eagle boss expressed his delightfulness after the game as Nigeria claimed all three points in a 3-2 win over Mozambique which ended a five-year winless run in friendly games. the victory came in hard way, by coming behind, to win thanks to goals from Terem Moffi, Moses Simon, and Frank Onyeka.
Jose Peseiro said: “I am happy because, after 15 matches, we have finally won a game,”
“We have not won a friendly game in the last five years. We have had eight defeats and seven draws but today, the result was good,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Sanusi, the General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), hailed the Super Eagles for their dramatic victory over Mozambique.
He said that the victory was vital as it boosted the morale of the team and established a winning mentality for them ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Sanusi said: “The win over Mozambique is a good one and of course, we are happy we have won.
“It is also a morale booster for the team as they begin preparations for both the World Cup qualifiers as well as the AFCON.”
he continued: “Players could be good but when they come to play with other players they actually don’t gel together.
“But we have seen that these players that came for the first time have been able to integrate and play very well as a team,” he said.
The Super Eagles will head to their World Cup qualifying campaign against Lesotho and Zimbabwe on Nov. 13 and Nov. 20 respectively before heading for the 34th AFCON that will take place in Cote d’Ivoire from Jan. 13 to Feb. 11. 2024.