SUPER Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro has explained what he considered before arriving at his final 25-man squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament will be held in Cote d’Ivoire from January 13 to February 11, with Nigeria in Group A with Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and hosts Cote d’Ivoire.
Peseiro initially named a 40-man provisional squad, which has been cut down to 25 ahead of the Confederation of African Football deadline on Wednesday, although he could have named as many as 27 players.
“NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) decided we’d take 25 players and I agreed. I believe 25 players are enough and it will be easier to manage them,” the Portuguese coach said in an interview with the Super Eagles media team.
The former FC Porto, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia coach then named the things he looked out for before deciding on his final squad.
“The first consideration is that the players worked with us before,” Peseiro explained.
“The second is the performance with the national team. Because some players would perform well with their clubs but not with the national team. It can also happen in the opposite direction with some players playing very well for their clubs but not for their national teams.
“It’s a different atmosphere, different context, and for that I try to evaluate the players and choose the ones who can perform for the Super Eagles.
“The third consideration is current form. If they are playing well and show good conditions when they’re with us.
“It’s a combination of players with different characteristics and it wasn’t easy choosing these 25 players. But it’s been done and I hope they play well for us.”
The Super Eagles squad include the regular faces like Victor Osimhen, Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Ola Aina and Zaidu Sanusi as well as surprise inclusions like the largely inactive captain Ahmed Musa and South Africa-based goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili.
Nigeria begin their 2023 AFCON campaign against Equatorial Guinea on January 14 in Abidjan before facing Cote d’Ivoire four days later and Guinea-Bissau on January 22 in the same city.
