Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi
Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has defended his decision to announce
his list of invited players for the forthcoming Brazil 2014 World Cup
qualifier against Kenya, without subjecting it to vetting by the Nigeria
Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee.
Keshi told reporters Wednesday that he bypassed the committee by
sending the list to the secretariat of the NFF because the technical
committee had not been reconstituted since its dissolution in December
of last year by the board of the NFF.
“There was no way I could have appeared before the technical committee
as there is no such body in NFF. I can’t appear before a non existing
committee. Rather, I sent my list to the secretariat which decided to
announce it,” Keshi said.
His response was on the heel of the grievance expressed over the list
by two members of the body, Paul Bassey and Austin Elumelu, after Keshi
refused to submit it to the committee for vetting.
Elumelu had in particular accused Keshi of flaying the set procedure of
inviting players by not giving the committee the profile of some of the
players before they were called for national duty.
The two players under scrutiny are John Ogu of Académica de Coimbra of
Portugal and Babatunde Michael who plays in Ukraine for FC Kryvbas
Kryvyi Rih.
Keshi pleaded that his decision to invite Ogu and Michael should not be
questioned because the two players “have quality”.
“I think they (Ogu and Michael) can strengthen our team. They have
quality and I have seen them play on a few occasions. Michael is going
to be a fantastic player, likewise John. We have a lot of good, young
players outside the country who are hungry to play for the national
team,” Keshi said.
He said it would be wrong to question the decision to exclude some
members of the team that went to the Africa Cup of Nations particularly
when there are two players outside that are much better.
Nigeria will regroup in the coastal city of Calabar on March 23, for
the first time since their victory at the Africa Cup of Nations, when
they host Kenya in a World Cup qualifying Group F match.
Keshi anticipated that the match against Kenya would be a tough one as
the pressure would be on Nigeria to raise their game by virtue of their
impressive display at the Nations Cup.
Though the Harambee Stars have not been able to stem a history of
second fiddle to Nigeria, Keshi warned that the East Africans parade a
good side with Victor Wanyama and Donald Mariga as the standout acts.
“They are a good team and never a two-man team. But we have our own
strategy on how to beat them and get the result we desire.”
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