Former Cameroun Coach To Replace José Peseiro

António Conceição

A former Cameroonian coach is running to succeed “his friend” Peseiro as the head coach of the Super Eagles and has applied.

António Conceição, the former coach of Cameroon's senior national team, has formally entered the race to replace Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro, following the job's declaration of vacant by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

NFF decided to fill the post because it was unable to come to an agreement with Peseiro, whose contract expired at the end of the previous month, regarding an extension because of a discrepancy in his monthly salary.

While Peseiro is demanding $120,000 per month in pay, the NFF has offered him $50,000 per month initially. Later, the NFF made the Portuguese an offer of $80,000 per month, but Peseiro turned down the most recent offer, forcing the NFF to declare the position vacant.

Conceição, who is Portuguese like Peseiro and has a close relationship with the former coach of the Super Eagles, has put his hat in the ring, but he is also in talks to return as the coach of Cameroon's senior national team.

According to information we exclusively learned, Peseiro was in regular contact with the coach who guided Cameroon to a bronze medal finish at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. He was also contacted by his countryman prior to the team's victory over Cameroon in the round of 16.

He is reapplying for the Super Eagles position for the second time; the first attempt did not work out, as the NFF chose to select Peseiro, who guided the squad to a second-place finish at the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d'Ivoire.

The host nation defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the championship match, but Peseiro achieved his goal of making it to the semifinals, which led to an extension of the short-term contract he had signed to cover the AFCON. But as previously mentioned, a pay dispute has now made room for Conceição, who can easily pass for his friend, to take over as Super Eagles coach before the World Cup 2026 qualifiers resume.