José Peseiro

Peseiro as manager of Braga in 2016
Personal information
Full name	José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro[1]
Date of birth	(1960-04-04) 4 April 1960 (age 64)[1]
Place of birth	Coruche, Portugal[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Nigeria (manager)
Youth career
1977–1979	Coruchense
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1980	Cartaxo
1980–1982	Coruchense
1982–1983	Oriental
1983–1984	Amora	6	(0)
1984–1987	Oriental	51	(3)
1987–1988	Samora Correia	33	(7)
1988–1989	Torreense	5	(1)
1989–1991	União Santarém
1991–1992	Alcanenense
1992–1994	União Santarém
Managerial career
1992–1994	União Santarém
1994–1996	União Montemor
1996–1999	Oriental
1999–2003	Nacional
2003–2004	Real Madrid (assistant)
2004–2005	Sporting CP
2006–2007	Al Hilal
2007–2008	Panathinaikos
2008	Rapid București
2008–2009	Rapid București
2009–2011	Saudi Arabia
2012–2013	Braga
2013–2015	Al Wahda
2015–2016	Al Ahly
2016	Porto
2016	Braga
2017	Sharjah
2018	Vitória Guimarães
2018	Sporting CP
2020–2021	Venezuela
2022–2024	Nigeria
Medal record Men's football Representing  Nigeria (as manager) Africa Cup of Nations Runner-up 2023 Ivory Coast
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro MON (born 4 April 1960) is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a forward.

After an unassuming career as a player, he went on to coach several clubs in his country, including Sporting CP – which he took to the 2005 UEFA Cup final^[2] – and Porto. He also worked extensively in Arab nations, being in charge of the Saudi Arabia national team. He also finished second at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria.

Playing career

Born in Coruche, Santarém District, Peseiro never played in higher than the Segunda Liga as a professional, starting out at Sport Lisboa e Cartaxo in 1979. In that competition, he represented Amora, Oriental, Samora Correia and Torreense for a total of five seasons.^[3]

34-year-old Peseiro retired at the end of the 1993–94 season in the fourth division, with local club União de Santarém.^[4]

Coaching career

Beginnings

Peseiro spent his first eight years as a manager in the third and fourth tiers of Portuguese football, starting out as a player-coach at his last team.^[4] In summer 1999, he was appointed at Nacional, which he helped get promoted to the Primeira Liga in just three seasons.^[5] In 2002–03, he led the team to a final eleventh position.

In 2003–04, Peseiro assisted Carlos Queiroz at Real Madrid.^[6] At the end of the campaign, after the team lost a considerable advantage on the table to be finally surpassed by Valencia, Barcelona and Deportivo de La Coruña, the pair was sacked,^[7] and the latter returned to his assistant position in Manchester United.

Sporting CP

Peseiro signed with Sporting CP for 2004–05. After collecting three losses and two draws in his first nine games in charge, the side eventually finished in third place with 61 points, four behind champions Benfica;^[8] additionally, he coached the team to a runner-up run in the UEFA Cup after disposing of the likes of Feyenoord, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United. The final was played at the Estádio José Alvalade, and after a 1–0 lead at half-time the hosts eventually succumbed to CSKA Moscow 3–1.^[2]

At the start of the 2005–06 season, the Lions were ousted from the UEFA Champions League by Udinese,^[9] and after being relegated to the UEFA Cup they were immediately knocked out by Halmstads 4–4 on aggregate after a 2–3 home loss.^[10][11] On 16 October 2005, following a 0–1 home defeat to Académica de Coimbra that saw Sporting sink to the seventh position, he resigned.^[12][13]

Eastern Europe

In the 2007 off-season, Peseiro was named manager of Panathinaikos.^[14] After failing to win the Super League Greece and also losing 4–0 to neighbouring Olympiacos in the domestic cup, he was forced to step down.^[15][16]

In June 2008, Peseiro signed a three-year contract with Romanian club Rapid București. On 2 October, after being eliminated from the UEFA Cup by VfL Wolfsburg, he was sacked^[17] only to be reinstated a few days later;^[18] he eventually resigned on 12 January 2009, after failing to agree on a new deal.^[19]

Saudi Arabia

Peseiro succeeded Nasser Al-Johar at the helm of the Saudi Arabia national team in 2009, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. His debut took place on 28 March, and it ended with a 2–1 away win over Iran which was the former's first ever victory in that country and the latter's first loss in nearly 40 home games;^[20] eventually, the nation failed to reach the finals in South Africa after losing to Bahrain on the away goals rule,^[21] and on 10 January 2011 he was relieved of his duties following a 2–1 defeat against Syria in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup opener.^[22]

Braga

On 3 June 2012, Peseiro was appointed at Braga.^[23] His first major signing was Portuguese international Rúben Micael,^[24] and he qualified the club for the group stage of the Champions League for the second time in its history, after disposing of Udinese on penalties.^[25][26]

At the end of the campaign, in spite of winning the Taça da Liga and ranking fourth in the league, Braga and Peseiro reached an agreement to terminate the manager's contract.^[27]

Al-Wahda and Al-Ahly

From 11 November 2013 to 11 January 2015, Peseiro worked with Al Wahda in the UAE Pro League. On 9 October of the latter year, Al Ahly announced his signing; upon hearing the news, fans of the latter protested against the decision based on his weak résumé.^[28][29]

Return to Portugal

On 18 January 2016, after cutting ties with the Egyptian side, Peseiro replaced Julen Lopetegui at Porto.^[30] Even though the third position they occupied at the time of the Spaniard's dismissal was still secured, he collected more losses than his predecessor,^[31] and also lost the final of the Taça de Portugal to his former team Braga, on penalties.^[32]

On 6 June 2016, Peseiro signed a two-year deal with Braga.^[33] On 14 December, following consecutive home defeats that resulted in elimination from the Europa League and the Portuguese Cup, respectively at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk (4–2) and Covilhã (2–1), he was fired.^[34]

Peseiro returned to the UAE in January 2017 with Sharjah, and was sacked nine months later after a poor start to the new season.^[35] The following February, he went home to sign a contract at Vitória de Guimarães until June 2019,^[36] which he rescinded by mutual agreement a year early.^[37]

In July 2018, Peseiro returned to Sporting after 13 years away, assuming the reins at a club that had lost several key players following fan violence, and whose previous manager Siniša Mihajlović lasted just nine days in the job.^[38] On 1 November, following poor overall performances and a 1–2 home loss against Estoril in the group stage of the Taça da Liga, he was relieved of his duties.^[39]

Venezuela

Peseiro returned to national team duties on 4 February 2020, being appointed by Venezuela after the resignation of Rafael Dudamel.^[40] He made his debut on 9 October in a 3–0 loss away to Colombia in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification; the opponents were led by compatriot Carlos Queiroz.^[41]

At the 2021 Copa América in Brazil, Venezuela was eliminated from the group stage with two draws and two defeats; Peseiro was praised by pundit Tim Vickery for achieving those results, despite a spate of COVID-19 infections and virus-related travel restrictions that kept key forward Salomón Rondón in China.^[42] He resigned in August, having not been paid for over a year amidst the South American country's economic crisis.^[43]

Nigeria

On 29 December 2021, Peseiro reached a verbal agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation to replace Gernot Rohr at the helm of the national team.^[44] He was supposed to travel to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, but strictly as an "observer" while interim manager Augustine Eguavoen led the side to the last 16;^[45] the deal eventually fell through, as Eguavoen was retained at the end of the tournament.^[46]

On 15 May 2022, Peseiro was finally appointed as the new head coach.^[47] He finished runner-up in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, losing 2–1 to hosts Ivory Coast;^[48] subsequently, he was awarded the Order of the Niger by president Bola Tinubu.^[49]

Peseiro left his position on 1 March 2024.^[50]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 11 February 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Oriental		29 October 1996	2 June 1999	103	51	26	26	136	103	+33	049.51	[51]
Nacional		2 June 1999	25 June 2003	148	68	40	40	234	182	+52	045.95	[52]
Sporting CP		3 June 2004	18 October 2005	63	34	10	19	118	74	+44	053.97	[53]
Al Hilal		4 June 2006	10 January 2007	14	10	2	2	22	10	+12	071.43	[54]
Panathinaikos		5 June 2007	15 May 2008	46	30	10	6	74	32	+42	065.22	[55]
Rapid București		3 June 2008	2 October 2008	11	4	2	5	12	11	+1	036.36	[56]
Rapid București		9 October 2008	12 January 2009	9	6	3	0	17	8	+9	066.67	[56]
Saudi Arabia		18 February 2009	10 January 2011	31	12	12	7	35	22	+13	038.71	[57]
Braga		3 June 2012	29 May 2013	47	23	8	16	84	64	+20	048.94	[58]
Al Wahda		11 November 2013	11 January 2015	43	20	13	10	77	61	+16	046.51	[59]
Al Ahly		9 October 2015	18 January 2016	12	8	2	2	22	10	+12	066.67	[60]
Porto		21 January 2016	30 May 2016	22	13	1	8	38	26	+12	059.09	[61]
Braga		6 June 2016	15 December 2016	23	11	5	7	39	30	+9	047.83	[58]
Sharjah		1 January 2017	16 October 2017	21	3	8	10	24	36	−12	014.29	[62]
Vitória Guimarães		28 February 2018	16 May 2018	10	4	2	4	13	10	+3	040.00	[63]
Sporting CP		1 July 2018	1 November 2018	14	9	1	4	24	14	+10	064.29	[53]
Venezuela		4 February 2020	20 August 2021	10	1	3	6	5	15	−10	010.00	[64]
Nigeria		15 May 2022	1 March 2024	22	10	5	7	39	25	+14	045.45
Total				651	317	153	181	1,012	736	+276	048.69	—

Honours

Nacional

• Segunda Divisão: 1999–00
• AF Madeira Cup: 2001–02

Sporting CP

• UEFA Cup runner-up: 2004–05^[2]

Braga

• Taça da Liga: 2012–13^[27]

Al Ahly

• Egyptian Premier League: 2015–16

Porto

• Taça de Portugal runner-up: 2015–16^[32]

Nigeria

• Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2023^[48]

Orders

• Member of the Order of the Niger^[65][66]

References