How the Super Eagles fly against adversity: 'People say it's better for Nigeria to have chaos than good preparations'

The Super Eagles landed in Ivory Coast with a coach who is at odds with his employers, while the team is missing key players who had to be withdrawn from the squad due to injuries – so naturally, the odds of Nigeria winning the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) have improved dramatically. 

Chaos is a staple diet for the Super Eagles, so much so that it's one of their key ingredients to being one of the forces of African football. The build-up to this Afcon is actually very relaxed and organised according to Nigerian standards. 

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have agreed on a bonus structure with the players, promising each member of the team $35 000 (over R640 000) for winning the Afcon and a payment of more than R91 000 for every win with a draw earning the players just over R45 000.

The sport ministry also announced it would settle all outstanding payments to the players and technical staff before the start of the tournament, with some of those monies dating back to three years ago. 

That, however, doesn't mean that the build-up to this Afcon has been drama free. That wouldn't be the Nigerian way.

The relationship between the NFF and coach Jose Peseiro is in the dumps, with members of the federation questioning his competency. One NFF board member, Nse Essien, even hinted that if the federation could afford Peseiro' pay-out they would have fired him after the team's poor start in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, picking up just two points from an available six with draws to Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

Peseiro has not only had to work looking over his shoulder with rumours of his imminent sacking a regular occurrence, he also had to take a pay cut when he extended his contract in September and has had to make changes to