Ex-Nigeria international, Garba Lawal, believes Jose Peseiro will make the Super Eagles stronger and cohesive and should not be judged by the 2-1 loss to Mexico on Sunday.
The two teams met in a friendly game staged at AT&T Stadium in Texas, USA. Tomas Gimenez opened the scoring in favour of El Tri after 12 minutes.
The West African nation managed to equalise in the 54th minute when Calvin Bassey assisted Cyril Dessers for his first international goal.
However, Nigeria skipper William Troost-Ekong turned the ball into his own net two minutes later to give Peseiro a losing start. Despite the defeat, Lawal was impressed with what he saw.
“It will be too early to start judging Peseiro with the games against Mexico and Ecuador considering the fact that he is just getting to know the players,” the now 48-year-old said
“His input in the game against Mexico shows that there is more to come from him if given the time to get his game plan well-ironed on the team.
“I see a more stronger and cohesive Super Eagles team and I know things will get better under him,” Lawal concluded.
Meanwhile, Nigeria defender Chidozie Awaziem has given his first assessment of Peseiro ahead of their second friendly, against Ecuador on June 3.
“The coach is someone, who likes to play football, who likes his team to enjoy themselves in the game and also have control of the game,” the 25-year-old told NFF TV.
“He is a coach, who pushes a lot to the players and right now he pushes us a lot and he tries to possess the game as much as possible. Nigerians should expect nothing but the best.
“We always give our best to come out with a victory. As we know Super Eagles, we always want to win and this is our culture and we always want to give our best even if it is a friendly or in competitions.”
The defender also commented on how the team is getting ready for the second build-up.
“Right now we are just focused on the game against Ecuador to make sure we come out with a good one,” Awaziem continued.
“We are all prepared for the second game against Ecuador, and the training session went well. Everyone was ready for training and it was really a tough one.
“But I hope we will all be ready for the game against Ecuador and everyone is really in a good shape.”
Nigeria are preparing to play Sierra Leone in Group A of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on June 9.
