Former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu has said he believes that the
newly appointed coach of the men’s national football team, Jose Peseiro could be the next ‘Clemens Westerhof’ widely regarded as Nigeria’s best coach in its football history.
According to Chukwu, Nigerians should not conclude that Jose Peseiro, will not achieve success with the national team because he has not won a trophy with any national team.
Peseiro has won only one trophy in his coaching career, which was the Portuguese league cup when he was with Braga between 2012 and 2013.
He coached Saudi Arabia between 2009 and 2011 and also had a spell with the Venezuelan national team between 2020 and 2021, without winning a trophy.
However, Chukwu stated that former Eagles coach Clemens Westerhof came to Nigeria without any track record of success but became a hit with the Super Eagles.
Chukwu’s statement came after former chairman, technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Chris Green, said Peseiro should have been allowed to come to Nigeria with his own backroom staff, rather than the NFF giving him indigenous coaches, like Finidi George, Salisu Yusuf and Ike Shorunmu to work with.
“We shouldn’t be worried because I remember that when Westerhof came, he didn’t have any trophy to his name, he didn’t even have any criteria, but he came and perform. So that is why I said let him come, let’s see his performance. He can use this as a stepping stone and start winning trophies,” he told Brila FM in an interview on Thursday, May 20.
Peseiro will be on the hotseat in Nigeria’s upcoming international friendlies with Mexico and Ecuador scheduled to take place on May 29 and June 2 respectively in the US.
