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Peseiro will be hoping to achieve his predecessor’s feat as the three-time African champions resume their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign
The Super Eagles are back after four months of not playing, no thanks to their failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Nigeria’s last game was a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Portugal in a friendly match that took place at Estádio José Alvalade last November.
2022 was a disappointing year after they crashed out of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in the round of 16 and failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
The three-time African champions also lost the five friendly games they played in 2022. However, they can draw positives from their two wins in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone and Sao Tome and Principe.
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The three-time African champions will now hope to build on the two wins as they resume their qualifying campaign this week.
Nigeria vs Guinea-Bissau
The Super Eagles resume their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a double header clash against Guinea-Bissau.
Nigeria will take on Djurtus at Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja on March 24 before taking on the same opponents at Estádio Nacional 24 de Setembro three days later.
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The match will be a repeat of their AFCON 2021 clash that Nigeria won 2-0.
Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro aiming to replicate Gernot Rohr’s feat
Peseiro is yet to convince Nigerians he is the man to restore the team’s glory since he took over almost a year ago.
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However, he still has a perfect record in AFCON qualifiers and will be hoping to repeat Rohr’s trick in qualifiers.
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Under Rohr, Nigeria qualified for three major competitions with a game to spare. Peseiro can continue the tradition if Nigeria win their two games against Guinea-Bissau.
State of play in Nigeria’s group
The Super Eagles currently lead their group (A) with six points, two of Guinea-Bissau. Sierra Leone are further below with one point, while Sao Tome and Principe are without a point.
Nigeria kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win over the Leone stars in Abuja before thrashing Sao Tome 10-0.
Jose Peseiro's tenure: A refresher
Meanwhile, Guinea Bissau beat Sao Tome 5-1 at home before playing a 2-2 draw against Sierra Leone in their second game.
How can Nigeria qualify
The Super Eagles will qualify for the AFCON next year in Ivory Coast if they beat Guinea-Bissau in the two games as the top two sides in each group will qualify.
If the three-time African champions beat Guinea-Bissau in their next two games, they will be on 12 points, which will be enough to finish inside the top two irrespective of the result in Sierra Leone’s clash against Sao Tome.
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A win and a draw will also be enough to seal qualification as it guarantees a top-two finish irrespective of whatever happens in the other game.
A win and draw will give Nigeria ten points and a better head-to-head record over Guinea-Bissau, which is the first tiebreaker that will be used in separating teams tied on points.
While Djurtus can still catch Nigeria on points if the Super Eagles pick up four points from the doubleheader, they will still be behind the three-time African champions due to an inferior head-to-head record.
And considering one or both Sao Tome and Sierra Leone will drop points in the other doubleheader, Nigeria will be guaranteed to finish inside the top two with a win and a draw against Guinea-Bissau.
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