Peseiro loses out on Algerian job as Vladimir Petkovic gets named as new Desert Foxes manager

FORMER Super Eagles manager Jose Peseiro has missed out on the opportunity of being appointed as the new head coach of the Desert Foxes after the Algerian Football Federation named Bosnian Vladimir Petkovic as their new national team manager.

Peseiro, 63, recently led the Super Eagles to the final of the African Cup of Nations, where they lost out to hosts Ivory Coast. Despite getting to the final of the tournament, Mr Peseiro was never going to continue as Super Eagles head coach as the relationship between himself and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had become fraught of late, making a separation inevitable.

Over the last few weeks, Mr Peseiro had apparently been negotiating with the Algerian federation but they have finally decided to go for Petkovic. Following Algeria’s poor outing at the recent Africa Cup of Nations that saw them exit the competition in the group stage after picking just two points from their three games, coach Djamel Belmadi  was sacked immediately.

Mr Peseiro’s contract is set to expire at the end of February and with no talk about a new deal in the offing, the NFF is going to have to start looking for a new head coach. Speculation has it that the NFF has already drawn up a three-man shortlist of coaches and they are waiting for Mr Peseiro's contract to formally end before taking the process forward.

Highly experienced, Mr Petkovic, 60, was previously the head coach of French side Bordeaux, as well as that of the Switzerland national team. He was also once the manager of Turkish club Samsunspor and Italian giants Lazio.