Trouble in Super Eagles camp as Iheanacho-Peseiro rift grows

Tension rises in the Super Eagles squad ahead of the showdown against South Africa as the rift between Leicester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho and coach, Jose Peseiro grows.

The prominent forward for Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, was notably absent from the pre-match press conference leading up to the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final clash against South Africa.

This absence underscores an apparent ongoing rift with head coach Jose Peseiro, as Iheanacho has yet to see any playing time in the tournament held in Ivory Coast.

Peseiro had previously attributed Iheanacho’s absence from the pitch to injury recovery, but as the tournament progresses, several players including Iheanacho, Terem Moffi, Ahmed Musa, and Bruno Onyemaechi, have not made appearances in any matches.

Despite the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announcing Iheanacho’s participation in the press conference alongside Peseiro, the Leicester City player was conspicuously missing, with Ola Aina stepping in to address media queries instead.

Reports from Soccernet suggest that Iheanacho’s absence from the press conference is rooted in his dissatisfaction with his lack of playing time during the tournament.

It’s believed that Peseiro’s reluctance to integrate Iheanacho into his preferred 3-4-3 system, opting instead for defensive substitutions over attacking ones, has exacerbated the situation.