WESTERHOF: CHUKWU SHOULD GIVE KESHI KENYA TIPS

WESTERHOF: CHUKWU SHOULD GIVE KESHI KENYA TIPS

Posted: Mar 14, 2013

Dutchman Clemens Westerhof has urged coach Christian Chukwu to provide current Super Eagles manager, Stephen Keshi, with necessary information about Kenya’s Harambee Stars, to enable him to map out his strategies against the East Africans ahead of next week’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Calabar.

Westerhof who managed the Eagles between 1989 and 1994, winning the Nations Cup in Tunisia in 1994 and qualifying Nigeria for its first FIFA World Cup finals in USA spoke from his Netherlands base on Wednesday to Complete Sports.

He admitted to the rising profile of African teams in recent years, citing the case of Cape Verde who did not only stop Indomitable Lions of Cameroon from going to the 2013 Nations Cup, but also sensationally reached the quarter- finals stage despite participating in the competition for the first time.

“Football in Africa is on the rise at the moment. We saw how Cape Verde shocked Cameroon during the Nations Cup qualifiers and confirmed their quality at South Africa 2013,” states Westerhof.

“But I don’t expect Kenya to do the same to Nigeria. Yes, it will be a tough game but I expect Christian Chukwu who worked with me when I was in Nigeria to advise Keshi on how he can tackle Kenya.”

“Chukwu has been there (Kenya) before as their national team handler and should be in the know of how things work there as far as football is concerned,” he declared.

Nigeria is pooled in group F in the Africa zone of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers alongside Kenya, Namibia and Malawi, with the Super Eagles in the driving seat with four points after two rounds of games.
Westerhof however played down any form of upset from other group opponents. ------ Complete Sports

“No, Eagles will qualify. They should be able to win both home and away against teams like Malawi, Namibia and even Kenya,” he submitted