Super Eagles Head coach, Stephen Keshi, has defended his invitation of 15 foreign based players for the team’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad on the premise that it would be suicidal underrating Chad.
The invitation of these players has generated furore with several commentators kicking against the move.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said last week that the federation would spend not less than N120 million to prosecute the match. The high cost the federation noted was as a result of the invitation of the 15 foreign based.
But on Sunday, Keshi said that he would never underrate any team saying that he would prepare for Chad the way he would prepare against Brazil.
“Football is not what it used to be in the past when some teams are seen as underdogs. I have been hearing the comment some people are making that we can use, league players to play Chad. That’s not right because I played against Chad when I was with Mali and they are strong. Most of their players are foreign-based,” he said.
“We don’t have any reason to underrate Chad. We are preparing very seriously just like we could do if we are to confront Brazil, France or any other country in the world.”
He said that he could prosecute the match with home based players, but that, “the same Nigerians will say this man is crazy. How can he play with only local boys; what happened to the foreign-based players?
“If we bring in professional players, people will still complain. The bottom line is that we have to do what we have to do to make things go right. This is because all we care about is the three points and how we will get to Gabon come 2017 is the ultimate.”
Keshi asked the NFF to provide him the video clips of Chad national team, saying the video clips would help the technical crew to know Chad style of play.
“I can only remember how they use to play in the past and I know that the team will be made up of most of their foreign-based players,” he said.
“With the quality of players we have playing at home, we can build a very strong team that can beat Chad or any other country,” he said.
“For me, coaching the home-based players to play against Chad will be a little bit difficult.”
Meanwhile, tickets for the match will go on sale in selected outlets in Kaduna on Thursday, officials have confirmed.
Officials have informed that tickets into the VIP stand at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium will cost N2,000, with the grandstand to go for N500 and the popular area to be sold for N300 only. Daily Independent
