Westerhof Vs Keshi: Who is Nigerias greatest coach? Clemens Westerhof and Stephen Keshi have amazing credentials as the Super Eagles coaches. TANA AIYEJINA samples opinion on who amongst the two is Nigerias best coach ever In the annals of Nigerian football, Dutchman Clemens Westerhof is regarded as the countrys best coach ever. The European coach played a major role in the positive turnaround of Nigerian football in the early 1990s. Having arrived Nigeria in 1989, he spearheaded a football revolution that landed the Super Eagles at the World Cup - for the first time ever - in five years. Westerhof is credited with turning the fortunes of Nigerian football around, first into a perennial powerhouse in African football and also assembling what has been described as Nigerias Golden Generation of players. Within this period, he won the Africa Cup of Nations gold, silver and bronze medals as well. But he quit his post as the Eagles coach after the national team crashed out of the 1994 World Cup second round after losing to Italys Azzuris. Despite the heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Italy, the Eagles World Cup campaign was still considered a remarkable success, and Westerhof and the players were hailed as heroes on their return to Nigeria. Under him, the likes of Austin Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George, Uche Okechukwu, Austin Eguavoen and others, all went on to enjoy successful careers with various high-profile European clubs. Ever since, Westerhof has been widely acclaimed as Nigerias best coach, until Stephen Keshi was named coach of the Eagles in 2011. Keshi was Westerhofs captain and close confidant during the Dutchmans reign. But he seemed to have learnt the ropes very fast from his mentor and has achieved relative success within a very short time as the Eagles head coach. While it took Westerhof five years and three attempts before he could win a Nations Cup trophy, it took Keshi just one attempt in two years to win it in 2013 and emerge as the second man to win the title as a player and coach after Egypts Mahmoud El-Gohary. After Westerhof was signed in 1989 by the Nigerian Football Association, he failed to qualify the Eagles for the 1990 World Cup, needing only a draw away to Cameroon on the last day of qualifying. He began a rebuilding process immediately, bringing in mostly home-based and unheralded Nigerian players into the squad. That was how the likes of Okechukwu, Amokachi, Emma Okocha, Herbert Anijekwu, Abdul Sule and several other up-and-coming players then got their opportunities to play for the Eagles. It paid off as he qualified the team for the World Cup in 1994 in his second attempt, also winning the AFCON trophy same year. Again, Keshi equaled that feat in far lesser time leading the team to a fifth World Cup appearance in just two years as coach of the team. KESHIS VOTES Ademola Adeshina, Keshis teammate in the national team, who also played under Westerhof, says the Nigerian has surpassed the feat of the Dutch coach. The former Lokeren midfielder said, Keshi knows the mentality of the Nigerian player and knows what it takes to drive him to success and that is evident in his achievements so far; what Westerhof did in five years, he achieved in just two years, so Keshi is a better coach. Former Nigeria defender, Taribo West, picks Keshi ahead of Westerhof but says both coaches will be better assessed after the World Cup in Brazil. If you talk about time, Keshi is ahead because it took Westerhof more years to achieve what Keshi did in less than two years. But I think we should wait till after the World Cup to properly appraise both coaches, Taribo said. Another ex-international, Garba Lawal, gave his vote to Keshi. He said, Normally, I will say Keshi is better because Westerhof came in 1989 and he had more time to groom his team. The quality of the players then was awesome; they had great attitude and commitment to duty. Before Keshi came in, people were crying, because of the poor football we were playing but things are different now. Joe Erico and Keshi were assistant coaches to Shaibu Amodu when the Eagles qualified for the 2002 World Cup and won a bronze medal at that years AFCON in Mali. He says the difference is clear between both coaches, arguing that Keshi has overtaken the Dutchman as a coach. Ill go for Keshi because Westerhof was a manager, not a coach. He hired people like Bonfrere (Jo) to do the job for him. Bonfrere was in charge of team tactics while Westerhof just supervised. So, I think Keshi is a better coach, Erico said. WESTERHOF IS IT But Chairman, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (Lagos Chapter), Fred Edoreh, insists that the Dutchman remains the countrys number one coach. I still think that Westerhof is the best coach weve had in this country. Weve been playing association football since the 1960s but we only qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1994 and won the Nations Cup same year, Edoreh said. He actually brought out the glorious moments of our football. Westerhof indicated that we can drive further, he unleashed the potential of our football and it takes a great coach to do that. Edoreh however feels Westerhofs dominance may be a thing of the past very soon going by the success recorded by Keshi. He added, Of course Keshi learnt under Westerhof, he was captain under Westerhof and everything he is doing right now, we can say is taken from his experience under Westerhof. Of course he can (surpass Westerhofs feat), he has done so well within such a short time. If he goes a little further, then by rating, he will be on top. But I still think that Westerhof brought the light into our football; he remains the greatest. Right now, Keshi has only met the mark that Westerhof set in 1994; he must do better before we can say he is better. Ex-junior international, Festu Odini, is in support of Edoreh. Its going to be tough picking among both coaches but I will pick Westerhof because of his experience. However, Keshi is still young and has enough time to surpass Westerhofs achievements, the Japan 93 U-17 World Cup winner said. ON THE FENCE Etim Esin, a former Eagles midfielder would rather wait till after the World Cup before he can make his judgement. Lets see how far Keshi goes at the World Cup before we start judging. I would say Keshi is the best indigenous coach to have managed the Eagles while Westerhof is the best foreign coach weve ever had. At the World Cup, who knows, Keshi may qualify us to the semi-final stage. Then we wont be comparing him with Westerhof again; he would automatically become Africas greatest coach. With Keshi, everything is possible. I dont doubt his ability, even right from when he was my captain in the national team. Head, Technical Committee, Nigerian Football Federation, Chris Green, also declined to assess any of the coaches. He said, It will be unethical to compare both coaches with my position but both of them have been fantastic and have done well for the countrys football. Ace sports broadcaster, Aisha Falode, said, Asking about the best among both coaches would be unfair. When Westerhof was here, we had a league that was thriving; there was so much talent in the league for a coach to pull from. But Keshi has been a groundbreaking person from his playing days. Remember he is the Big Boss. But again we cant take away the support and the role of the FA and the sports minister in Keshis successes so far. Both coaches came at different times and that is why I say it would be unfair to judge them.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 06:14:42 +0000
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