Shofoluwe to Eagles: Prove Keshi Right

Shofoluwe to Eagles: Prove Keshi Right

Posted: May 30, 2013

Former Super Eagles defender, Yisa Shofoluwe, has charged all the players coach Stephen Keshi is banking on to deliver during the June schedule to rise to the occasion by playing their hearts out to get favourable results.

In line with his approach since he took over the reign as the coach of the senior national team, Keshi did not list some of the ‘big names’ like skipper Joseph Yobo,  Osaze Odemwingie, Taye Taiwo, Ikechukwu Uche in the squad for the upcoming assignments, while few others influential players like Victor Moses and Kalu Uche had to withdraw due to injury concerns.

As the Super Eagles are getting set to confront Mexico this Friday in USA in a preparatory game for both the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Namibia and 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil next month, the former Abiola Babes of Abeokuta right-back challenged the ‘new’ faces in the team to prove that they merit a place, saying that is the only way they can repay Keshi’s faith in them.

“A situation like this will only provide unique opportunities for those young players to stake a claim to regular place in the team,” he told Complete Sports.

“Keshi that I know will not do anything except he is sure of what will be the outcome and we all saw what happened in South Africa. Quite a  lot has been said about invitation and non-invitation of certain players but for me, it all depends on what the coach wants. My only fear is would those players live up to expectations just like they did in South Africa?”

While advising the players to see the 2014 World Cup ticket as non-negotiable so that they can confirm that Nigeria’s current status as African champions was not a fluke, Shofoluwe charged Keshi and his crew not to be distracted by any administrative controversy, saying he should know how to play his cards well to achieve good results.

“We must be in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and Keshi must not allow anything to interfere with that ambition. It’s all about knowing what to focus on and the ones that should be ignored,” he admonished. ------------------------ Complete Sports