Nigeria vs South Africa: Super Eagles Coach Jose Peseiro Lists 2 Key Players Missing in Action

• Jose Peseiro wants the Super Eagles to change their play tactics and score more goals as they prepare to face South Africa in the semifinals
• The coach believes the Eagles have what it takes to defeat the Bafana Bafana of South Africa as he noted that the players are yet to fully exploit their quality
• Meanwhile, Nigeria progressed to the semi-final stage after defeating Cameroon and Angola with three goals in the AFCON tournament

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Nigeria’s coach José Peseiro has said Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against South Africa in Bouake will be challenging for the Super Eagles because Kelechi Iheanacho and Joe Aribo will not be in action.

Peseiro urged the Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen and his attacking partners to be more clinical upfront and be more defensive in their attack against the Bafana Bafana, Leadership reported

Following their narrow 1-0 victory over Angola in the quarterfinals, Peseiro acknowledged that his team had been fortunate but they needed to create more scoring opportunities in the upcoming match, The Guardian report added.

Meanwhile, the Eagles will face South Africa in the first semifinal match of the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament on Wednesday, February 7, in Bouake, Cote D’Ivoire.

“We’re missing some key creators like (Kelechi) Iheanacho and (Joe) Aribo, so it’s been hard. But others must now step up,” Peseiro said.

Interestingly, Ademola Lookman scored Nigeria’s last three goals at the knockout stages secured a spot for Nigeria in the tournament, while Victor Osimhen got a goal in their pool opener against Equatorial Guinea.

But the other two strikes were a penalty from William Troost-Ekong and an own goal from Guinea-Bissau’s Opa Sangante.

With just six goals scored in five games, the Portuguese feels Nigeria aren’t capitalising on their quality.

AFCON: Peseiro places phone ban on players ahead of South Africa clash

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Super Eagles players have been ordered to switch off their mobile phones from 9:00pm daily ahead of their AFCON semi-final clash against South Africa

According to The Punch, the coach, Jose Peseiro, gave the order after some of the players were seen playing the game ‘Call of Duty’ on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Peseiro reportedly gave the order to avoid distractions and enable the Super Eagles players to remain focused ahead of their crucial game.

Source: Legit.ng