2014 World Cup: Eagles on redemption flight against Namibia

Before Stephen OkechukwuKeshi mounted the saddle as Super Eagles Chief Coach, the team’s rating in the eyes of ardent Nigerianfootball followers was nothing to write home about.This was especially after his predecessor, Samson Siasia committed the unforgettable, failing to qualify the team for the 2012 Africa Nations Cup, the first time in 25 years. Not even the Eagles’ poor performance at the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana which earned them the nickname, Super Chickens, from the Ghanaian press, elicited such dislike from their Nigerian fans like they received after the Syli Nationale of Guinea denied them the 2012 ticket on home soil at the Abuja National Stadium. It is with this poor rating onhis mind that Keshi started a rebuilding process with home-based players and a sprinkle of foreign-based players. This process also gave the fans some hope that all is not lost afterall, especially after the new team posted some respectable results where the locals proved that they were not all brawn and no brain but skillful and determined. Even in the two friendly matches they lost to Nations Cup record holders,Pharoahs of Egypt and Peru, the home-based lads proved that with more exposures like they are getting already, they could displace some of the formerregulars in the team and form the fulcrum of Keshi’s main team. Though Keshi had not madepublic his starting line-up as at the time of this report, the home-based players are sure to make up a sizeable percentage ofthe team to battle the Namibians who are already boasting they will pick a vital point or the maximum points against their supposedly stronger opponents today. On their way to Calabar aboard a Nigerian airliner, the Namibian coach, Bernhard Kaanjuka would not subscribe to the confidence talk of Wigan goal-getter, Victor Moses that the Eagles will overrunhis side. He told Vanguard’sGroup Sports Editor, Onochie Anibeze that “You have a bigger team but I can tell you one thing, Nigeria will feel us on the field.We are not afraid of Nigeria
SOURCE...