Outgoing coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Jose Peseiro, has revealed how much he missed the presence of Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface during the last AFCON 2023.
The Portuguese tactician, who spoke during an interview with AfricafootUnited, said that the all-action striker could have made a difference for his team during the tournament.
He said that he had to re-shuffle his two-man attack formation since Boniface had been sidelined for the competition after suffering an injury during the team’s training camp in Abu Dhabi a few days before the tournament’s start.
“I will say that Boniface would have made the difference without injury,” Peseiro said in an interview in Portugal, according to AfricafootUnited.
“He was very confident and can play comfortably in our two-man attacking style. He can also play on both sides of the strikers, and that would have made him our invisible arc in the tournament.
“Our options to refine our style were limited in his absence.”
Peseiro’s time as the senior national team’s coach had many ups and downs, but it ended well when he led the Super Eagles to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2023), where they were defeated 1-2 by Cote d’Ivoire.