KESHI WARNS AGAINST SLIPS AT HOME IN PLAYOFFS. Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has said the goal they conceded against Burkina Faso has warned his team ahead of next month’s World Cup playoffs. Keshi The Super Eagles on Tuesday let in a late goal to the mainly home-based team from Burkina Faso after they were coasting to a comfortable 4-0 win inside the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna. “Conceding a goal at home could be very dangerous as regards our qualification because an away goal could be very damaging and so we would need to be very careful,” he said. “Sometimes it’s good this way because then we have a point of reference and we will make corrections. “In the proper game, we have to be very cautious how we defend and how we play.” He said the friendly against Burkina Faso afforded him the chance to have a closer look at players like Shola Ameobi, Victor Nsofor and James Okwuosa, who are knocking hard on the first-team door. “I gave some players the opportunity to play, I wanted to see more of Nsofor, Shola and James,” Keshi said. “It was not about the score line, it was more about our tactical shape and understanding what we want to do in future.” Striker Emmanuel Emenike, who got his second goal in as many matches in three days, said with the current form of the team, the Eagles will be very difficult to stop on their way to Brazil 2014. “With the way we played at the Nations Cup and against Malawi in Calabar, no team in Africa can stop us,” declared the Fenerbache striker. “The most important thing is that we have to believe in ourselves and go out and do the job. “We are African champions and every team wants to come out and fight against us we are the champions.” Nigeria are expected on Thursday morning to know from the latest FIFA rankings whether they will be among the five seeded teams for the playoffs, which will be played on a knockout basis. The main draw for the final playoffs will be staged in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday afternoon.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 03:01:59 +0000
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