Peseiro blames referee for Nigeria defeat to Guinea Bissau

Peseiro blames referee for Nigeria defeat to Guinea Bissau

AFCON 2023 Peseiro blames referee for Nigeria defeat to Guinea Bissau

Stephen Oladehinde 21:54 - 24.03.2023

The Super Eagles coach was unhappy with the officiating of the Egyptian referee after they lost 1-0 to Guinea Bissau.

Jose Peseiro expressed his displeasure at the referee Kotey Alexander and blamed him for the defeat to Guinea Bissau in their AFCON Qualifiers. 

The Super Eagles conceded in the 29th minute with a goal from Mama Balde as the away side took the lead. Nigeria made some effort to get back into the game but the visitors held their nerves and saw the game through, leaving with the crucial three points.

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Peseiro expresses his displeasure at the referee

The Super Eagles failed to secure three points and go top of the table, dropping down to second position, one point behind Guinea Bissau. While Peseiro was not pleased with his team’s performance, he reserved some of the blames for the referee.

Speaking after the game, Peseiro said, "Even normally in Europe the referee will give a red card for the foul, but here the referee gave a yellow card. 

"The referee should have given us a penalty but there was nothing. He gave five minutes of additional time when our player used more than three minutes for treatment. Normally he must put ten minutes of additional time", He added.

Peseiro was not happy with the referee after he failed to give the Guinea Bissau player Mama Balde a red card for his hard tackle on Kevin Akpoguma in the second half.

The Super Eagles coach also mentioned the ref's failure to award a penalty after one of his players was roughly handled in the penalty box

The Portuguese also complained about the five minutes added time given at the end of the game, as he did not account for the amount of time spent treating the injured Akpoguma.

Peseiro has the chance to correct his mistake

The Super Eagles will now travel to Estadio 24 De Setembro in Guinea Bissau for the second leg of their AFCON Qualifiers, desperately in need of a win to put them in the driving seat to qualify for the tournament. 

Peseiro will need to rally his team to victory and fancy their chance of qualifying for the African Cup of Nations.  A win for the Super Eagles will take them back to the top of the table and will be on nine points with two games to spare.

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