Peseiro to assume duty as Eagles head coach soon as Eguavoen stands down after yesterday's loss

SUPER Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguavoen has stood down and returned to his position as Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) technical adviser following yesterday's shock 0-1 loss to Tunisia in the ongoing African Cup of Nations.

Widely tipped to win the ongoing 33rd African Cup of nations taking place in Cameroon, the Eagles were surprisingly dumped out of the competition in the Round of 16 yesterday by unfancied Tunisia. With the shock elimination, Mr Eguavoen has immediately stood down, paving the way for Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro to take over the team and prepare it for forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Ghana in March.

Late last month, Mr Peseiro was appointed as the new Super Eagles head coach by the NFF with  mandate to take charge of the team at the end of the African Cup of Nations. After the Eagles performed brilliantly in the group stages wining all three matches, there were some calls for Mr Eguavoen to continue permanently but yesterday's defeat put paid to that.

Following a 47th minute winner by Tunisian striker Youssef Msakni, the Super Eagles are heading back to their clubs.  In a post-match press conference, Mr Eguavoen said that he too has decided to return to his role as the technical director of the NFF.

Mr Eguavoen said: "What happens next is that I'm the interim coach and technical director of the NFF, so I will go back to my position and allow the federation make a decision on the way forward. As per the match, I won't criticise the referee because they are masters of the game but Alex Iwobi's red card wasn't fair as the foul wasn't an intentional one."

Nigeria football fans have been scathing about Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye, adding that the argument for the red card was 50/50. They believe that the sending off of Iwobi, just two minutes after he came on in the second half, cost Nigeria the game.

One fan said:  "If Ndiaye had stayed with the yellow card, few people would have complained but showing that red card to Iwobi in the 66th almost effectively rubber-stamped the Eagles' loss. Ndiaye showed his inefficiency and obdurate nature when he failed to stop the game when the ball hit him on a Nigerian attack.  He then compounded the mistake by threatening to book Wilfred Ndidi, who complained vehemently.

Yesterday, it appeared that Mr Eguavoen had no Plan B as when the Tunisians neutralised the wing play of Moses Simon by double-marking him with Mohamed Draeger and Anis Ben Slimane or Hamza Rafia, the Super Eagles had no other attack option. There was also a chasm between the midfield and attack, which meant the Tunisians were first to most balls in the middle of the park.

Mr Eguavoen's outdated 4-2-4 formation means that Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo were always outnumbered in midfield. He tried to change this midway through the second half by bringing on Iwobi but alas, the playmaker got sent off almost immediately.

Mr Peseiro is now expected to resume work this week and start preparing for the World Cup play-off against Ghana taking place on March 24 and March 29 in Accra and Abuja respectively. Nigeria is certain to be strengthened with the return of star striker Victor Osimhen.