Former Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, has said that Bayer Leverkusen striker, Victor Boniface would have made the difference at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations if not for an injury.
The 23-year-old striker was ruled out of the tournament due to injury he sustained in the team’s training camp in Abu Dhabi.
Boniface was tipped to shine at the tournament and the Portuguese gaffer’s plan was to use a system that would have seen the Germany-based forward partner Victor Osimhen up front.
Peseiro has left the Super Eagles as talks of contract renewal broke down between him and the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF.
This was after he took Nigeria to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations where they lost to the host nation, Ivory Coast in the final.
The Portuguese believes that the AFCON trophy would have been won by Nigeria if not for Boniface’s unavailability.
“I will say that Boniface would have made the difference without injury,” he said in an interview in Portugal, according to AfricafootUnited.
“He was very confident and can play comfortably in our two-man attacking style. He can also play on both sides of the strikers and that would have made him our invisible arc in the tournament.
“Our options to refine our style were limited in his absence.”
