Nigeria’s national football team head coach, Jose Peseiro, still waits for his first victory in charge of the Super Eagles, following a 1-0 defeat to South American nation Ecuador, in his second game in charge of the team.
Four days ago, the Super Eagles lost 2-1 to the resilient Mexico in their first tour of USA friendly match. The loss to Ecuador makes it two defeats for the Portuguese head coach, who is in the process of building his team.
Friday’s match against Ecuador, who will feature in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, was played at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
Villarreal defender Pervis Estupiñán’s lone goal in the opening minutes of the game condemned Nigeria to successive loses in Peseiro’s first two games.
Genk’s forward Cyriel Dessers had good opportunities to level for the Eagles, but failed to score despite his one on one chances.Emmanuel Dennis also missed another glorious chance in the second half, the Watford striker who came on as a substitute blasted a ball over the bar from close range.
Goalkeeper Francis Uzoho made brilliant saves to keep Nigeria in the game as he made save after save, denying the Ecuadorians from extending its lead. However, the match finished 1-0.
Jose Peseiro said he was happy with the Super Eagles performance against Ecuador.
“I think we played much better than Mexico,” Peseiro said in a press conference after the game.
“Today I saw more pressure, we created more opportunities, we created some against Mexico, but today I saw more and some organisation in how we played.”
“Against Mexico, we trained two times; for some players, it was once. The reason for the improvement is we have now trained four times, so we had to improve,” Peseiro added.
The Super Eagles will now turn focus to the 9th of June, when they take on Sierra Leone in the opening fixture of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
