José Peseiro

José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro (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 – 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.

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

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. In summer 1999, he was appointed at Nacional, which he helped get promoted to the Primeira Liga in just three seasons. In 2002–03, he led the team to a final eleventh position.

In 2003–04, Peseiro assisted Carlos Queiroz at Real Madrid. 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, 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; 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.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, the Lions were ousted from the UEFA Champions League by Udinese, 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. On 16 October 2005, following a 0–1 home defeat to Académica de Coimbra that saw Sporting sink to the seventh position, he resigned.

Eastern Europe
In the 2007 off-season, Peseiro was named manager of Panathinaikos. 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.

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 only to be reinstated a few days later; he eventually resigned on 12 January 2009, after failing to agree on a new deal.

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; eventually, the nation failed to reach the finals in South Africa after losing to Bahrain on the away goals rule, 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.

Braga
On 3 June 2012, Peseiro was appointed at Braga. His first major signing was Portuguese international Rúben Micael, 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.

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.

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.

Return to Portugal
On 18 January 2016, after cutting ties with the Egyptian side, Peseiro replaced Julen Lopetegui at Porto. 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, and also lost the final of the Taça de Portugal to his former team Braga, on penalties.

On 6 June 2016, Peseiro signed a two-year deal with Braga. 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.

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 The following February, he went home to sign a contract at Vitória de Guimarães until June 2019, which he rescinded by mutual agreement a year early.

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. 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.

Venezuela
Peseiro returned to national team duties on 4 February 2020, being appointed by Venezuela after the resignation of Rafael Dudamel. 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.

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. He resigned in August, having not been paid for over a year amidst the South American country's economic crisis.

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. 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; the deal eventually fell through, as Eguavoen was retained at the end of the tournament.

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

Peseiro left his position on 1 March 2024.

Honours
Nacional
 * Segunda Divisão: 1999–00
 * AF Madeira Cup: 2001–02

Sporting CP
 * UEFA Cup runner-up: 2004–05

Braga
 * Taça da Liga: 2012–13

Al Ahly
 * Egyptian Premier League: 2015–16

Porto
 * Taça de Portugal runner-up: 2015–16

Nigeria
 * Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2023

Orders
 * Order_of_the_Niger_civil_division_ribbon.svg Member of the Order of the Niger