Super Eagles Head Coach Stephen Keshi has said he is willing to take a chance on players from the Nigeria league at the AFCON because it is worth it.
Keshi, who came under fire from some quarters for picking six players from the NPL for this year’s AFCON, a radical departure from the 2008 and 2010 tournaments when no player from the domestic league made the final squad, declared, “Football is a game of risks. At the 1990 Nations Cup when the likes of Daniel Amokachi came in, about 80% of the players were from the local league. It’s a risk worth taking.”
Goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim, defenders Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwuekwe, midfielder Gabriel Reuben as well as forwards Sunday Mba and Ejike Uzoenyi are the professionals who ply their football in the local league and have made the final cut for the competition holding in South Africa.
The big boss will however not promise Nigeria a third Nations Cup trophy but said the team are confident and will give their best.
“I don’t want to promise Nigerians anything, I am not going to give any assurance but I will do my best with the team in South Africa,” he said.
“The level of discipline is great, good atmosphere. I hope the confidence will be sustained at the AFCON. If there is any pressure on me to perform at the Nations Cup, it is pressure from me not from any other quarters. We are not under any pressure to win.”
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