Eagles ready For Chipolopolo says Keshi

Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, has said the team is calm and ready for Friday’s crunch battle against defending champions, the Chipolopolo of Zambia, at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, South Africa.
Speaking at the pre-match media briefing at the team’s Ingwenyama Sports Resort in Nelspruit on Thursday afternoon, Keshi said he foresees a difficult game but was sure that his wards will come out better at the end of the encounter.
“Yes, we are playing against the defending champions and we know they are very good but we also know our potentials and we are sure to come clean at the end of the day,” Keshi said.
In company with team 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.
Keshi also spoke about his former play-mate in Belgium, who is now the President of the Football Association of Zambia, Kalusha Bwalya, declaring that he has had a wonderful relationship with him over the years and do hope to have a good handshake with him at the end of Friday’s game no matter where the result goes.
He said: “We played together in Belgium.
“While I was in Anderletch, he was in Club Brugges and we were like brothers, up to the 1994 finals in Tunisia.
“It does not mean we don’t kick ourselves on the pitch.
“So on Friday our players will kick themselves and we will do the handshakes.”
Yobo, said he would not talk much about the boast by the Zambian side that they will take Nigeria to the cleaners.
“We shall see when we get to the pitch tomorrow,” he declared.
Earlier, Chelsea super star, Victor Moses, said he was now fully fit for the game against Zambia and will like to score a goal for his three months old son, Brentley Moses.
“I have been in touch with the mother and my little boy and I feel I should do him a world of good by picking three points from Zambia and eventually winning a trophy from Africa for my little boy,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles on Thursday 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 mixed with astute education.
Assistant Coach, Dan ‘The Bull’ Amokachi, led the team of coaches and players that included Coaches Sylvanus Okpala, Hydounou Valere and Ike Shorunmu, with organizers of the event declaring that it was meant to blend football skills with geometrics and help marry the game with education.
Pupils of the school who were quite excited to see the Nigerian national team, said they have learnt a lot from the exploits of the Nigerian players over the years and were ready to groom their wards to attain the heroic exploits 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 primary school.