Nigerian former international, Nwankwo Kanu, has charged Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, to do everything within his powers to prove to the doubting Nigerians that he still has the magic wand to make the senior national team an enviable brand, urging him to start winning immediately.
The former Arsenal FC of England who gave the charge while answering questions from SoccerStar at
the Abuja National Stadium venue of the opening ceremony for the President’s Cup, noted that though the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) waited too long, Keshi should hit ground running.
Asked his impression about Keshi’s return, the former West Bromwich Albion forward, said: “One thing we must understand is that Keshi is the same coach, who handled the Super Eagles that did not qualify, he is also the same coach who won the Nations Cup with the team in South Africa.
“For me, all these should be a learning curve for Keshi. He should not allow the same thing to happen to him in his return. He must bear in mind that the same Nigerians that celebrated him as a hero when he won the Nation’s Cup called for his head when he did not qualify the team to Nations Cup.
“When the team was not performing well and he found himself in the middle, he should know that he must improve and proof to himself and the entire country that NFF did the right thing to appoint him. What Nigerians should do is to keep supporting the team,” he said
Kanu said: “It was bad that it took the NFF that long to take decision on the hiring of the head coach. I know that they actually want to put their house in order, but we have known that the earlier they appoint a coach the better for the team.
“Luckily, we have to thank God that they have signed a coach. It is now left for the head coach to assemble his team and move from there. We have a crucial game coming up very soon and some players already invited to the camp.
“But all the same Nigerians don’t want the same thing that happened before to repeat itself. The most important thing is that they should be aware that Nigerians don’t want you take any chance anymore. We have to start winning from day one,” he said.
As the chairman of the President’s Cup, Kanu used the opportunity to assure Nigerians that the tournament is going to produce the calibre of players that can break into any of the national teams, stressing: “As the pilot edition, I know we will make some mistakes but I don’t have any iota of doubt that we will produce champions in this tournament.”
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