The former head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has lamented the absence of one player, who he felt would have made the difference for his team at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Nigeria were beaten 1-3 by the host in the final denying them the chance of lifting the title for the third time in the history of the tournament. The defeat is still fresh in the heart of Peseiro.
Peseiro who announced the expiration of his deal as coach of the Nigerian team at the end of last month will not keep his post after rejecting the contract extension deal offered to him by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Reflecting on his time as the coach of the team with the AFCON, which was the only tournament he led the team to, the Portuguese coach said his options became limited in attack when he lost the chance to unleash Victor Boniface at the tournament.
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Boniface made his debut for the team after an extra ordinary start to life in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen, the team he joined in the summer from Belgium side Union Saint-Gilloise. His ten goals and seven assists is largely why they currently have a ten points lead over league champions Bayern Munich.
However an adductor injury stopped him from transferring his form to the African continent, much to the disappointment of Peseiro who said he had him in mind as his joker in the build up to the tournament.
” I will say Boniface would have made the difference if not for injury. He was high on confidence and can play in our two man attack style comfortably. He can also play on either side of the forwards and that would have made him our unseen bow at the tournament. Our options to tweak our style was limited in his absence”, the coach said in a TV interview in Portugal.
Osas Mahawi
