Calm Eagles ready for Chipolopolo

Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, says the team is calm and ready for today’s crunch battle against defending champion, Chipolopolo of Zambia, at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. Keshi, speaking at the pre-match media briefing at the team’s Ingwenyama Sports Resort in Nelspruit on this afternoon match, said he fore saw a difficult game but was sure that his wards would come out better at the end of the encounter.

“Yes, we are playing against the defending champion and we know they are very good, but we also know our potentialities and we are sure to come out clean at the end of the day”. In company of team’s skipper, Joseph Yobo, Keshi praised the output of the team in the last game against Burkina Faso and again pleaded with Nigerians to give his youthful side time to blossom.

“Yes, we have millions of coaches in Nigeria, but they must understand that every national team that has achieved took time to build and they must give this Super Eagles side time to grow”, he said.

…Team dazzles at Valencia Park

•Anyansi calls for total support

Super Eagles yesterday took time off their busy schedule to visit Valencia Park Primary School in Nelspruit to learn from plans by the school to develop a football culture blended with astute education. Assistant Coach, Dan ‘The Bull’ Amokachi, led the team of coaches and players that included Coach Sylvanus Okpala, Hydounou Valere and Ike Shorunmi with organisers of the event declaring that it was meant to blend football skills with geometrics and help marry the game with education.

Pupils who were quite excited to see the Nigerian national team, said they learnt much from the exploits of the Nigerian players over the years and were ready to groom their wards to attain the heroic level of the Super Eagles over the years with education as the bedrock. Assistant Captain of the side, Vincent Enyeama, thereafter presented five balls to the school on behalf of the team to the joy of the pupils and teachers of the elite school.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the NFF Technical Committee, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, says Nigerians must repose total confidence in the present squad, in their run-up to the championship challenge in South Africa 2013, as he has total confidence in the ability of the team to deliver.

Speaking after one of the team’s training sessions in the course of the week, Anyansi-Agwu, who led Enyimba fc of Aba to a back-to-back win of the African Champions League and discovered players such as Vincent Enyeama and Ikechukwu Kalu, said he had so far been pleased with the tactical approach of the coaching crew headed by Stephen Keshi.

“We are certain that this team will go very far in this tournament and Nigerians must join in this optimism, going by what I have seen so far”, he declared.