Emphatic victory! That is what veteran sports journalist and Confederation of African Football (CAF) Media Coordinator, Paul Bassey, wants the Super Eagles to record in today’s Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifier against Namibia in Windhoek. Bassey, who was in Nairobi mid last week and watched the Super Eagles’ Kenya game said Eagles as African champions must show character by not just beating Namibia, but beating them convincingly. “We must not struggle against every opposition. Against Kenya, we struggled but thank God we managed to win. I don’t think the story should be the same in Windhoek. Namibia is not in the same class with us when it comes to football and the Eagles must prove this on the field of play. Nigeria as reigning African champion should over run Namibia with ease the way the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire and Pharaohs of Egypt over ran their opponents last weekend,” Bassey said. It would be noted that the Elephants defeated Gambia 3–0 away in Banjul, while Egypt hit Zimbabwe 4–2 in Harare to establish an unassailable lead of their groups. Bassey was quick to point out that Keshi’s Eagles are deficient both in the defense and attack, even as he urged the coach to work on the team before the crucial knock out stage of the World Cup qualifier where Nigeria would be drawn against one of the giants of African football. “Keshi should begin now to plan for the crucial second round of the World Cup qualifiers, where he won’t be facing minnows. The real battle for the World Cup ticket will be in the second round, which is the knock out stage. “Keshi needs to shop for new legs. We must not be carried away by the victory over Kenya. The Eagles’ attack is not good enough and the defense is shaky. Against Kenya, a good attack should have scored at least three goals in the first half. I saw terrible finishing in front of goal. Its like without Emmanuel Emenike the attack is dead. The defense line is equally suspect. Keshi needs two or three quality players to get things right. If we win in Windhoek, then we can use the last game against Malawi at home to test one or two new players.” On the FIFA Confederations Cup, Bassey said it would be a good opportunity for Keshi to continue his rebuilding process. “The Confederations Cup is a good avenue for Keshi to continue the rebuilding process. Lets see how the Eagles will fare at such a big stage. But I don’t think we should be scared of any country, not even the World champions, Spain. Spain struggled in their last friendly against Haiti, and who says we can’t hold them in Brazil? Football is quite an unpredictable game and all a team needs do to win a match is to take the chances that comes its way.”
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:03:58 +0000
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