'NFF decided to take 25 players' - Peseiro reveals how he picked Super Eagles final AFCON squad 

Jose Peseiro has cleared the air on how he picked his final Super Eagles squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, saying that the Nigeria Football Federation insisted on taking twenty-five players for the tournament in Ivory Coast. 

The Portuguese football tactician has named three goalkeepers, nine defenders, five midfielders and eight forwards on his roster. 

In a wide-ranging interview with the Super Eagles media team, Peseiro revealed that he had an expanded list that included seventy-two players, before it was pruned to a provisional squad containing forty-one players and then a final 25-man roster. 

On the make-up of his squad, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Ola Aina were picked as the right fullbacks and on the left we have Zaidu Sanusi and Bruno Onyemaechi, while the center backs are Troost-Ekong, Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi, Chidozie Awaziem and Kenneth Omeruo. 

Peseiro has gone for five central midfielders namely Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka, Raphael Onyedika, Joe Aribo and Alex Iwobi.

Ademola Lookman, Ahmed Musa, Moses Simon and  Samuel Chukwueze are the wingers and the strikers are Victor Boniface, Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho and Umar Sadiq. 

Explaining why 25 players were named in the squad when there's a provision for 27, Peseiro said: "The number is from the Nigeria Football Federation. NFF decided to take 25 players. I agreed, twenty five players is enough to manage. Since the first moment NFF decided to take 25 players. "

Sharing those things he took into consideration before selecting these 25 players from the 41-man provisional list, Peseiro stated: "We did a big list of 41 players and these chosen players worked with us until now. The performance in the selection because some players show good performance in the clubs but didn't show in our national team.

"It can happen the same in the opposite, some players play very well in the national team, they didn't play well in the clubs - it's different atmosphere, different context. 

"The third one is the current form, if they are playing well, if they show the good conditions for their clubs for us. I try to bring four fullbacks, five central defenders, five midfielders, four wingers and four strikers. 

"Some players give more deep moments, some players give more support, some players give more connection. We tried to coordinate these characteristic and these solutions for our system, for our game. 

"It's possible I didn't choose others players because we have very good players, we have very good quality.  It wasn't easy to choose the 25 players, 41 could come because they showed quality and character."

Peseiro concluded by saying that he chose players, whether they play or not,  that can create a better atmosphere in the team in a situation where there are players with the same characteristics. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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