Super Eagles head coach Stephen Keshi has disclosed that his team is ready to face any of the other nine teams through to the playoff round of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
After the 2-0 victory over the Flames of Malawi on Saturday, Keshi said his team will lock horns with any other African side in the next round of the scuttle for Brazil 2014, which starts October and ends November.
Nigeria will wait to know their pairing next Monday, but the results of Thursday’s Fifa Ranking will determine the 5 seeded teams for the draw which comes up in Cairo, Egypt.
“I don’t have any preference for any of the teams left, whoever we are paired to face, we are ready to face them. The target is to be in Brazil 2014 and that is what we are pursuing as a team,” said Keshi.
Meanwhile some members of the team have been left disgruntled by the coach’s decision to exclude John Obi Mikel from today’s friendly against the Burkinabe, sitting injury.
Ahead of the friendly game, which could be pivotal to Super Eagles’ performance in the Fifa Rankings due for Thursday, Mikel and Victor Moses were permitted to return to their club base in Europe.
According to Thisday, the Eagles players, notably Vincent Enyeama, were not happy with the technical crew’s decision.
They argued that Mikel was being allowed to select the matches he would play; stressing that the injury claim was a mere hoax.
Enyeama objected that the team only got to know about Mikel’s injury and the decision to exempt him from the trip to Kaduna (venue of the friendly game) on the day the team was departing Calabar.
Keshi had also granted permission to Moses because the forward needed time to settle down with Liverpool which he joined on loan on transfer deadline day.
The Super Eagles hosts Afcon 2013 runners up Burkina Faso at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium Kaduna later on Tuesday in a friendly encounter.
