Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi is a man that God has favored as it seems in his present capacity. Love him or hate him, love his techniques or hate his tactics, Keshi has kept churning out results despite the scathing criticisms over most times his tactics to the game.
Keshi is set to make history once again, in 1994 in he captained the Super Eagles to their first world cup outing in the United States of America, qualified Togo for their first ever World Cup berth at Germany 2006 and at the moment he is only ninety minutes away from taking Nigeria to Brazil next summer having won the Ethiopians by 2-1 in the first leg away encounter of the final qualifiers of the African zone.
Keshi has been consistent in getting good results in charge of the national team especially at official matches like the Nation Cup which he won earlier in the year again another milestone for him as player in 1994 and coach.
The Eagles have also set a new African record on the road to Brazil in twenty seven successive world cup qualifiers from the African Zone and their last loss was in 2004 when they lost to Angola 1-0 as they failed to make it for Germany 2006 edition.
The team has won 18 games and drawn 9, a very strong feat that has once again confirmed the dominant status of the senior national team.
The big boss as he is fondly referred is on the verge of taking his team to its fifth world cup appearance next year and he is unfazed by the advantage his team has over the Ethiopians in the return leg in Calabar on November 16, 2013 as he strongly states that a complete and convincing win in the return leg will give much relief at the end of the day.
The battle of Addis Ababa could be described in various ways by sports pundits, but despite the victory at the end, we must not leave everything to the wind all in the name of over-confidence and we could pay a heavy price for such oversight and negligence.
Keshi gambled in his starting lineup for the Addis Ababa game. The team played a 4-4-2 formation but played key players like Mikel Obi, the engine room of the team outside his usual position. That flaw exposed the midfield, the Ethiopians had a field day knocking the ball around right from their defence line to our goal post and paid the prince of inexperience in front of our goal.
The central defence pair of Azubuike Eqwekwe and Godfrey Oboabona to a great extent mustered thei best to control the rampaging attackers in the absence of captain Joseph yobo whom Keshi has vowed not to invite to the national team again despite the fact that he plays regularly for his club side Fernabache and his vast experience would be needed at the World Cup.
I have heard several other reasons or excuses that altitude may have affected the team and I agree with that totally but it does not give us any excuse for the failure of the team to excel in the first half.
The senior national team and other cadres of our teams have played in the East African countries and have gotten results in these gamed. The Eagles in past matches have gotten good results against Ethiopia at Addis Ababa and we qualified for the last world cup beating Kenya 3-2 away in at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.
It is all about tactics and the moment we failed to have a concrete game plan the team caved in as our hit man Emmanuel Emenike was a shadow of himself, Victor Moses was lost Mohammed Musa fizzled and the rest of the team kept chasing the Ethiopians.
At the end of the first half Nigeria’s possession was 39 percent compared to 61 percent by the Ethiopians and Nigerians had clearly seen the danger ahead of their qualification chances if the Ethiopians continued to dazzle like they did in the first half.
It took the introduction of a Nosa Igiebor for Victor Moses to return Mikel to his central position and the Eagles took charge which eventually released Super Emmanuel Emenike to silence the voracious home support at the Addis Ababa stadium as Nigeria took over proceeding from then on till the end which Emenike converted a penalty to earn him a brace.
As we still savor the Eagles victory, Keshi needs to still tell his players that all is not over. We have another 90 minutes of good display to earn the team qualification.
The return leg in Calabar on November 16 should signal the carnival of the team’s success to the Samba land of Brazil and that is why the team must not be experimented with unused players despite the score line advantage and Keshi must roll out his full armory to fly higher than the Wayla Antelopes.
Nigeria needs to send a strong signal out on November 16 that as African champions, one fear no foe and we are not going to Brazil to make up the number but to set new records for Africa’s representation at the World Cup and that means a semi final ticket.
As it stand, with the road to Brazil almost certain, Keshi’s last and major task in his contract would be a semi final berth for the national team at Brazil 2014 which would be a massive inspiration to our indigenous coaches if he achieves that feat.
Keshi should realise that he needs to work on the lapses observed especially with the revelation of how quick the Ethiopians are with the ball and the deft touches they posses. The senior national team should realise that altitude would not be able to hold on against a team which will come out charging like wounded lions aiming to do almost the impossible at our background, God forbid.
That is why the players as professionals must remain focused because it can happen. It almost happened when the Eagles dropped points at home (same Calabar) against Kenya (another East African country) in a world cup qualifier during the group stages. The Kenyas outplayed us and it took an 88th minute equalizer by Nnamdi Oduamadi for the team to salvage a point which could have put our qualification on a mathematical state.
I commend the efforts and commitment of the Sani Maigari led Nigeria Football Federation board to make the team succeed. The support of President Goodluck Jonathan who made an appearance at the team’s training session at Addis Ababa was a strong motivation factor as he was attending the Golden Jubilee of the Africa Union. This was the second time the president would attend the team’s training session an historic first by any Nigerian President. This shows the power of sports in national development and this remains a laudable feat.
The road to Brazil has almost been achieved. Nigerians must be warming up to support the team next summer. Nigerians must be warming up to savor the splendor, warmth and hospitality of the Brazilian people and explore the long shore line of the beaches.
The road to Brazil must be emphatic and we must look forward to a convincing score line line the Black Stars pummeled the Pharaohs 6-1 last week, then can we begin to sing and celebrate as we pack our bags on the next flight for the summer world cup.
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