Stephen Keshi himself didn’t seem bothered. The Super Eagles had lost their opening match in the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) in South Africa to Mali, placing their progress from Group A in some danger.
Losing to Mali where Keshi once held sway as coach wasn’t the most worrisome issue. The whole team was rather woeful, and the goalkeeper and captain Chigozie Agbim was even more so. As usual Nigerians were quick to dismiss to players, but Keshi remained confident. He attributed the loss to anxiety on the part of the players.
“The boys did not play well in the first game because they were nervous. The stage fright they encountered made it difficult for them to express themselves,” Keshi said after the opening loss.
He promised that the players will get better in subsequent outings. True to his pledge the players rose to the occasion; although the performance wasn’t top drawer, the Eagles sailed over Mozambique to revive hope.
The last group match against hosts South Africa was even more tricky. Eagles needed an outright win; a draw would not be enough. Once again they rose to the occasion, dispatching hapless Bafana Bafana. Three goals before Bafana pulled one back tells its story.
Although the team advanced to the quarter final, and did far better than they did in the opening matches, the Eagles can’t relax just yet. The real test is around the corner against the Atlas Lions of Morocco tomorrow. The North Africans placed top of Group B after defeating Uganda, who were no slouches by any means.
Keshi is aware of this and is not getting ahead of himself. “Right now, we just have to take it game by game and see where it takes us,” he said.
Morocco are debutants like the Eagles and although North Africans are known to be difficult customers, a former Super Eagles defender Isaac Semitoje is confident Keshi and his players can sail into the semi finals after the encounter in Cape Town tomorrow.
“It will be tough; you know the way it is against North African opposition. As you know Morocco also have a good league which means they have good home based players,” says Semitoje a member of the Eagles Nations Cup winning class of 1994.
“However, my hope is that our players play against them the way they did against South Africa. If they can bring that form into tomorrow’s match, I believe we will win. It is likely to end 2-1 or 3-1.”
Emmanuel Babayaro is no less confident. “When we talk about Nigeria and brag about the Nigerian spirit and character that is what is happening in CHAN at the moment. Let’s face it our winning the last two matches has not been due to any particular technical and tactical brilliance by Keshi or the superiority of our team. It has everything to do with the Nigerian spirit,” says the former Eagles goalie
“I don’t think Keshi is doing any magic, maybe it is in the way he has inspired the players after that opening loss to Mali. I watched the match against South Africa and we were not that fantastic, but it was just that Nigerian thing.”
Babayaro adds that although he expects tough examination from Morocco, he still thinks Nigeria can put it together to get past the Lions.
“Now that we are playing Morocco and we know the North Africans are really tactical, we need to be very careful especially at the back. The goalkeeper has not been impressive; I blame him for the two goals against Mali. First he’s not tall and two he has weight problem; these two factors are against him and to make matters worse he goes down too easily.
“This is where the goalkeeper trainer Ike Shorunmu who I respect so much should help the boy by talking to him to stay on his feet. I hope that Agbim doesn’t take this in bad faith; I know how much some of these younger players like and respect me. What I’m saying is for the overall good of the team.
“Having said that I think eventually we will be able to run down Morocco through our sheer physical presence. I think that right now in Africa we can run down any team.”
Another Nigerian international Ndubuisi Okosieme also weighs in, talking up the unpredictability of Nigerian teams and how it has reappeared again in CHAN to Nigeria’s favour.
“You know Nigerian sides and how unpredictable they can be. When you expect them to fly high they disappoint you but when you write them off you do so at your own peril. That is what is happening now in CHAN,” says Okosieme.
“We didn’t do too well in our first match and then we came back winning in the second, but in the last match and knowing they were in trouble, the boys rose to the occasion. I received several calls after the first two matches from people who were angry and wanted to know why Keshi would feature a goalkeeper like Agbim.
“But Keshi made changes for the last match and we all saw the outcome, how well the players did. But we should not give them a pat in the back just yet. If we did that we know our people they will go to sleep. In fact they need to even step up the gear now; thankfully Keshi knows what to do, he’s very experienced. He saw it all as a player and now as a coach he knows what is at stake. I expect Eagles to go far now they’ve made it to the last eight against all odds.”
By: Vincent Eboigbe
