Jose Peseiro has full belief in depth of Nigeria squad ahead of AFCON opener

By Sports Desk January 13, 2024

Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro maintains he has full belief in the depth of his squad ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations opener against Equatorial Guinea in Abidjan.

The Super Eagles are among the favourites for the tournament as they look to add to their three previous titles, the last of which came in 2013.

Peseiro’s side scored 22 goals in six games during qualifying, which was the highest of the 24 teams who reached the finals.

Much is expected of African footballer of the year Victor Osimhen, the Napoli forward having netted 10 times to help Nigeria on their way to the Ivory Coast.

Leicester forward Kelechi Iheanacho, Terem Moffi, Samuel Chukwueze, Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman are all part of an attack-minded squad.

Peseiro, though, insists it needs a collective effort if the Super Eagles are to live up to their pre-tournament billing.

“I believe in my players – in all of them from the goalkeeper to the striker,” Peseiro told a press conference ahead of Sunday’s Group A match.

“Every team sometimes has more power in certain positions. It happens to all national teams.

“It is my job and responsibility to create a good organisation, but the main point is that I believe in them.”

Nigeria have had to deal with some injury problems, as Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface and Umar Sadiq are all unavailable.

Equatorial Guinea coach Juan Micha, though, knows just what a challenge his side will face at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium.

“It will be a very complicated match and we will be playing against one of the best teams in Africa,” he said.

Related items

  • Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner

    Wilfried Gnonto's stoppage-time strike fired Leeds United to the Championship summit as they beat Swansea City 4-3 in a contest defender Joe Rodon compared to a basketball game.

    Daniel Farke's team were twice forced to come from behind in South Wales as a Manor Solomon strike and a Ben Cabango own goal saw them respond to first-half efforts from Harry Darling and Liam Cullen.

    Solomon's second put Leeds 3-2 up with 73 minutes gone, but Florian Bianchini's 90th-minute leveller looked set to keep them third in the table, behind Sunderland and Sheffield United.

    However, substitute Gnonto tucked home following an assist from former Swansea winger Dan James, sending the travelling fans into raptures and securing Leeds' second straight victory.

    Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Rodon – who began his career with Swansea – said: "It was like a basketball game! Credit to the boys.

    "Every game we want to keep a clean sheet, but you know how it is in the Championship, and Swansea made it difficult for us."

    Gnonto now has eight goal involvements in the Championship this season, scoring three and assisting five. 

    Only Norwich City's Borja Sainz (11 goals, two assists), Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz (five goals and seven assists) and West Brom's Josh Maja (10 goals, one assist) have more.

  • Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header

    Arne Slot is relishing Liverpool's upcoming double-header against Real Madrid and Manchester City.

    Liverpool came from behind thanks to Mohamed Salah's second-half double to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday.

    That victory at St Mary's moved the Reds eight points clear of Man City, who were thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham on Saturday for a fifth straight defeat in all competitions.

    Pep Guardiola's team visit Anfield on December 1, though first the Reds host European champions Madrid in the Champions League.

    And Slot cannot wait for Liverpool to go up against two heavyweights.

    "It's what you need in a league like this, with so many quality teams. You have to keep winning because if you don’t, the other ones will," the Dutchman told BBC Sport.

    "That's what we try to do every game, now it's Real Madrid and next Sunday it's Man City.

    "You couldn't wish for more than playing these two games in the upcoming week, at home."

    No manager in Premier League history has reached 10 wins in fewer matches from the start of their career in the competition than Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti).

    Liverpool were indebted to Salah, however, with the forward dragging them level and then converting the winner from the penalty spot after Mateus Fernandes had put Southampton into a surprise lead early in the second half, following goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Adam Armstrong before the break.

    Salah became the first player to score in five successive Premier League appearances for Liverpool since the Egyptian himself in October 2021 (seven in a row). His second goal was his 100th away from Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions.

    "It was very good that Mo scored in that moment," said Slot of Salah's first goal, which came in the 65th minute when he nudged Ryan Gravenberch's pass beyond the stranded Alex McCarthy.

    "It was not the best period of the game so he helped us with that and then afterwards we dominated so much, they got tired.

    "That is what special players do. They can score goals out of nowhere. It's not completely out of nowhere because the assist of Gravenberch is a great ball as well, but Mo is known for the timing of his runs, he feels the right moment to run behind the last line, and normally you know he’s not offside because he always finds the right moment, and then he scores the goal, which was very helpful for us."

    While Slot acknowledged Liverpool were tested by the Premier League's bottom club, he felt his team were always in control.

    He added: "It wasn't a surprise for us, we saw how they played against Man City, Arsenal and Newcastle in away games, never mind how they would play in a home game against a top team. But we dominated. Because we went down 2-1, it made it really difficult for us.

    "We dominated the whole game, which is not that easy against Southampton because they want possession, they want to dominate the game as well, but they couldn't. Because the scoreline was as it was, it felt like a difficult match, but if you look at the underlying numbers we deserved to win."

    Those metrics support Slot's point. Liverpool accumulated 2.9 expected goals from 27 shots, 11 of which were on target, while they also limited Southampton to 37.9% possession.

  • Everton x-x Brentford: xxx Everton x-x Brentford: xxx
© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.