Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, believes his side would have performed much better at the ongoing Confederations Cup if he had the trio of Emmanuel Emenike, Ogenyi Onazi and Victor Moses in Brazil.
Spartak Moscow striker Emenike, Lazio midfielder Onazi and Chelsea winger Moses were all left out of the Nigerian side no thanks to injuries and Keshi feels their absence actually decimated the performance of the reigning African champions at the tournament.
Keshi’s team were eliminated from the Confederations Cup by the World Champions.
Media Officer of the Nigerian team, Ben Alaiya, quotes Keshi as saying “I can’t imagine that my top striker Emmanuel Emenike will miss some of the goals that we missed and even Ogenyi Onazi was sorely missed, Victor Moses would have ruined any team here and of course several other players that should have been here could not make it due to injuries. Among them United States based Bright Dike.”
Keshi then declared that he knows exactly what to do while appealing to Nigerians to forgive the team for the less than average performance at the tournament, promising that the team will come good in the World Cup qualifiers.
“We want to come back here next year and make an impact. This is a dress rehearsal and I can assure that the Super Eagles will be among the top nations when the Brazil 2014 World Cup starts,” added Keshi, who also revealed that he has fresh options for the national team when the team resumes for the final World Cup qualifier match against Malawi in September.
Keshi also revealed that he is ready to secure a first ever qualification ticket to the African Nations Championships (CHAN) meant for players playing in their respective domestic leagues.
“We would go back home take a few days rest and prepare for our CHAN qualifiers against Cote d’Ivoire in the coming days and hopefully we should be able to make it through,” he said.
Mikel slams wasteful attackers
Meanwhile midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has placed the blame for the Nigerian side’s exit from the ongoing Confederations Cup at the doorstep of the team’s forwards who, in his opinion, were wasteful in front of goal.
The Super Eagles scored a total of seven goals from three games in Brazil but those figures ought to have hit double figures had the likes of Brown Ideye, Joseph Akpala, and the team’s other strikers been more ruthless in front of goal.
Mikel is unhappy with the wasteful attacking at the Confederations Cup
Against Spain on Sunday, Ideye and Akpala missed a handful of scoring opportunities that, had they been converted, would have made life much more difficult for the reigning world champions.
And speaking after the team’s 3-0 loss to the Spaniards, Mikel declared that opportunities created by the team were too numerous but were simply not put away.
“We came out to defeat the Spanish side and I think we may have even had the better possession against the world champions but we simply did not take our chances and they took theirs, so we paid for our mistakes and are now heading out of the championship,” said the Chelsea midfielder.
Mikel further added that he was not taking anything away from the Spaniards, whom he described as fantastic, but simply wants the national team’s strikers to be more potent in from of goal.
Meanwhile the Super Eagles will depart Fortaleza for Sao Paolo en route Lagos on Monday morning. The team is expected to leave its Seara Praia Hotel in Fortaleza by 10:30am local time, which is 2:30pm Nigerian time, for Sao Paolo from where they will link a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa and another to Lagos.
Some of the overseas based players will not be part of the returning party as some of them will fly out to meet up with their clubs for pre-season tours while others will embark on holidays ahead of the upcoming season.
