Super Eagles head coach José Peseiro has ranked Morocco as Africa’s biggest surprise team in the ongoing 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Portuguese tactician who is currently in Qatar spoke about his observation of the teams he has monitored so far in an interview with NFF TV on Friday.
Speaking about the performance of the African teams in Qatar, the Portuguese tactician said: “I think Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia all achieved good results but lacked the consistency to advance to the round of 16.
“Cameroon played a fantastic game against Serbia and beat Brazil, Ghana also beat South Korea.
“Senegal had a great performance in the group stage, but the big surprise at this year’s World Cup is Morocco. It is a well organized team and conceded fewer goals. Only three teams in Africa have reached the World Cup quarterfinals; Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Morocco make up the fourth team.
“They showed qualities and they are the best African team in Qatar.”
The Atlas Lions will play Portugal in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium.
The 62-year-old tactician also revealed that he has watched the last five editions of the World Cup and is in Qatar to watch the matches thanks to the support of the Nigerian Football Federation.
“I have been to the last five World Cups watching the matches live so far. I am in Qatar with the support of the Nigerian Football Federation.
“I think it is important to assess the evolutionary trends of the national teams in this competition.
“It’s a bigger competition for the national teams. I can’t compare the organization of the national teams, some teams have more time to prepare than other teams.
“But if you talk about the quality of the players, matches. As the coach of a national team, the Super Eagles, I can say that there are many qualities. Any team can gather the best players”.
“I arrived in Qatar on December 2 and I have been watching the matches live, watching two matches. I saw Portugal vs Croatia and how Cameroon beat Brazil. It is possible to watch the matches because the stadiums are not far from each other, I am going to watch the quarterfinals, the semifinals, the third place and the final.
The Eagles’ chances of participating in the 2022 World Cup were voided after they lost on the away goals rule against Ghana.
A 10-minute long-range shot from Thomas Party beat Francis Uzoho to put the Black Stars in a dominant position before substitute captain William Troost-Ekong restored parity from the spot.
However, the three-time African champions failed to score the most important goal to secure a World Cup spot in Qatar, leaving fans devastated.