Jose Peseiro, the head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Jose Peseiro, the head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, attributed his team’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe on Sunday to the players’ lack of the required energy.
Jose Peseiro guided his team to Rwanda for the second 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe, and much to the disappointment of many football enthusiasts, the match concluded in a 1-1 draw.
Similar to the initial game of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers between Nigeria and Lesotho, Zimbabwe scored the opening goal before the Super Eagles fought back to equalize.
Reflecting on the Super Eagles’ performance against Zimbabwe, Coach Jose Peseiro emphasized that his team experienced significant fatigue due to their journey from Nigeria to Rwanda. He also underscored the impact of injured players such as Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi, Taiwo Awoniyi, Samuel Chukwueze, and others on his team’s overall performance.
The coach said: “It was difficult and the trip from the flight to the bus, was many hours. The players have not had a good rest. The draw was better but I can’t say anything more. The first half was bad and the second half was better. The off energy from my team was much”.
He further said,“Injuries can happen in the national team, Ndidi, Osimhen, Zaidu, Taiwo and a lot were missing but I think we have enough team. Somehow, it can happen but I think we have a team to beat Zimbabwe. The key point for me was the off energy”.
Following two disappointing draws in the 2026 World Cup qualification series, the Super Eagles currently occupy the second position in Group C with two points.
They are one point behind South Africa, which has only played one game in the qualifiers so far and is currently in the lead.