Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, says his team is calm and ready for Friday’s crunch battle against defending champions, Chipolopolo of Zambia, at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, says his team is calm and ready for Friday’s crunch battle against defending champions, Chipolopolo of Zambia, at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
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Speaking at the pre-match media briefing at the team’s Ingwenyama Sports Resort in Nelspruit on Thursday afternoon, Keshi said he foresees a difficult game but was sure that his wards will come out better at the end of the encounter.
“Yes, we are playing against the defending champions and we know they are very good but we also know our potentials and we are sure to come clean at the end of the day,” he said confidently.
Sitting in company of team skipper, Joseph Yobo, Keshi praised the output of the team in the last game against Burkina Faso and again pleaded with Nigerians to give his youthful side time to blossom.
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“Yes, we have millions of “coaches” in Nigeria but they must understand that every national team that has achieved took time to build and they must give this Super Eagles side time to grow,” he said.
Keshi also spoke about Kalusha Bwalya, his former play-mate in Belgium who is now the President of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), declaring that he has enjoyed a wonderful relationship with him over the years and do hope to have a good handshake with him at the end of Friday’s game no matter where the result goes.
“We played together in Belgium, while I was in Anderletch, he was in Club Brugges and we were like brothers, up to the 1994 finals in Tunisia. It does not mean we didn’t kick ourselves on the pitch, so on Friday our players will kick themselves and we will do the handshakes”.
Skipper Joseph Yobo declined to focus on the boast by the Zambian side to take Nigeria to the cleaners. “We shall see when we get to the pitch tomorrow,” he stated.
Earlier, Chelsea star, Victor Moses, declared he was fit for the game and hopes to score a goal for his three-month old son, Brentley.
“I have been in touch with the mother and my little boy and I feel I should do him a world of good by picking three points from Zambia and eventually winning a trophy from Africa for my little boy,” he said.
Nigeria won its second Cup of Nations championship in 1994 by defeating Zambia by two goals in the final.
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