6th February, 2013
Chief Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Stephen Keshi has stated in clear terms that nothing will stop his team from lifting the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Eagles square up against the Eagles of Mali in the first semi-final match of the tourney Wednesday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, 4pm Nigerian time, with the aim of continuing their unbeaten streak and Keshi is upbeat about seeing off the Malian team he once coached.
On six occasions have both teams come up against each other with Nigeria winning three, while the other three ended in stalemates.
Keshi believes today’s clash would confirm Nigeria’s superiority over Mali.
The last meeting between both teams was at the 2008 tournament in Ghana and it ended in a goalless draw. However, Keshi, who won the Nations Cup as a player, would want to rewrite history by being the first player and coach to clinch the coveted trophy.
According to the former Anderlecht of Belgium player, “I have a well coordinated team, although we have been together for just four weeks. We did not have much time before the competition as we were coming on and off through the qualifiers. But now we have gotten to the point where we cannot afford to take anything for granted. My team are unstoppable now.’’
Speaking on the preparedness of his team ahead of the tie and how he has been able to gain the support of Nigerians, he said: “A lot of people are suddenly having a rethink about the Eagles that they now refer to us as favourites to win the game. But to be honest, I don’t know anything about being favourites. All I know is that we are playing a good side. I know 85 percent of the Mali players who played under me for more than two years while I worked in Mali. It’s not going to be an easy game, but we are here to play game after game till the end of the tournament.”
Already six Nigerian state governors are in South Africa to support the team, while President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday had a teleconference with the team, urging Joseph Yobo and his team to do the nation proud. He promised that should they make it to the final he would be at the stadium to cheer them to victory.
Responding to the promise made by Jonathan, Keshi said that they are charged for the tie as he does not see Mali stopping them from winning the diadem.
Corroborating Keshi’s stand is one of the top scorers of the team, Sparta Moscow of Russia forward, Emmanuel Emenike, who said that he is not under pressure to score against Mali, saying “Yes, I am the team’s top scorer, but that does not put me under any pressure because football is team work. I have the support of my teammates, so I don’t have any fear about scoring or not. What is important is to play as a team instead of individual effort.
“Since I am not setting any goal for myself but for the team to win, I don’t think I am under any pressure. A lot of attention may be on me, but I will just play my normal game for the team to win. When you are in the semi final, then you must put yourself in the position where you play for the team because the whole country is behind you and you cannot let them down,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mali Coach, Patrice Carteron, has said that he is not carried away by the pedigree of the Nigerian team as he would approach the game with determination to win.
“We are living in the present and not the past, therefore we are facing a team we can beat.”
The former Lyon and Saint Etienne defender also said Nigeria are the favourites to win this semi-final in Durban and the pressure will therefore be on the Super Eagles.
“Nigeria are the favourites in this game, but we aim to beat them. The pressure is on them, we’re not under pressure because we’re not the favourites,” said the Frenchman.
“We will play so as to win this game. We will attack because it’s important to win this game. And we want to win without going into penalties.”
Mali have only gone past the semifinals on one occasion, in 1972 when they lost in the final to Congo. Nigeria’s AFCON record makes for better reading as they have gone past the semifinals on six occasions.