Super Eagles Assistant Coach, Daniel Amokachi, has said the team cannot afford to be without striker Emmanuel Emenike at this year’s World Cup in Brazil.
“Emenike is one of the key players in our team. We missed him at the FIFA Confederations Cup and his absence was felt,” Amokachi told MTNFootball.com.
“We will need his service seriously at the World Cup. He is on terrific form and it is impossible to stop him from scoring goals.”
The Fenerbache striker was top scorer with four goals as Nigeria won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa and his goals also propelled the African champions to a fifth World Cup.
The 26-year-old centre-forward is powerful, direct and knows his way to goal. He has scored nine goals in 19 matches for Nigeria.
Emenike was voted seventh best player in Africa for 2013 and was named in CAF Dream XI for 2013.
Tag: Super Eagles
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Emenike key to our World Cup aspiration – Amokachi
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Eagles’ midfielder delays Libya transfer for CHAN
Kano Pillars midfielder, Shehu Abdullahi, has put on hold a move to Libya so as to feature at CHAN.
The former Nigeria U-20 star has a concrete offer from Libya, but he has insisted he will only look at it after the tournament in South Africa.
A source close to the player informed MTNFootball.com: “Shehu has a serious interest from Libya and the money is good, but he has said he will not take it till after the CHAN, where he could even get a better offer.”
Abdullahi, who played at right back for Nigeria at last year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, was a late inclusion in the final squad to CHAN, which kicks off on Saturday in Cape Town.
The player, who will be 21 in March, is behind Ikenna Paul of Sunshine Stars in the Eagles pecking order at CHAN.
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Keshi hails Eagles after defeating Ethiopia
Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has saluted his CHAN-bound team after edging past Ethiopia 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday.
First-half goals by Ifeanyi Ede and Ugonna Ozochukwu set the tone for an Eagles victory in Abuja, MTNFootball.com reports.
And Keshi said he will take some satisfaction from the tactical play of his home-based team especially in the first half.
“I am very impressed with the performance of the team especially on tactical play. If I get this kind of performance in all our games in CHAN, I will be satisfied,” MTNFootball.com quoted Keshi as saying after the match.
“We played against a very good side. This is the first team of Ethiopia, very experienced team, the team had been together for a long time and my boys played under a little pressure, they wanted to impress the crowd, they wanted to impress the media.
“The first half they played together and I think it should be like that, but in days to come they would improve.
“We are not yet a team, we are still working. You cannot get a team under three weeks, it’s impossible, expect you are a magician.”
Ethiopia coach Sewnet Bishaw said his team had learnt some lessons from the match.
“The purpose for today’s game was to get experience for the younger players even though they have been together for long. So the purpose of this game is just for exposure and we have learnt a lot from the game,” he said.
“We have never conceded a goal from a throw-in. Today we saw that goals can be scored from throw-ins, we have learnt from that and we will try to correct our mistakes,” he stated.
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Keshi unveils CHAN squad
Super Eagles handlers have dropped injured Gambo Mohammed and Yinka Adedeji from the 2014 CHAN in South Africa.
MTNFootball.com gathered that both players have since left the Eagles training camp.
The highly-rated Pillars star Gambo, who featured for Nigeria at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, has been nursing a hamstring injury, which has kept him by the sidelines since the Eagles resumed training for CHAN earlier this month.
Adedeji also suffered a hamstring injury at the weekend.
Golden Eaglets goalkeeper Dele Alampasu is also set to be in South Africa as third-choice goalkeeper after FC Taraba goalkeeper Ibrahim Pius was axed, but his Eaglet teammate Taiwo Awoniyi did not make the final cut.
Also dropped was new Enyimba signing Mfom Udoh, who was a late call-up to the Eagles after his goals for Akwa United last season.
Nigeria plays Mali on January 11 in Cape Town.
The final squad:
Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Enugu Rangers), Daniel Akpeyi (Heartland), Dele Alampasu (Abuja Football College)
Defenders: Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars); Francis Benjamin (Heartland), Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves), Kunle Odunlami (Sunshine Stars), Ikechukwu Gabriel (Bayelsa United), Umar Zango (Kano Pillars), Bright Esieme (Enyimba), Erhun Obanor (Insurance FC)
Midfielders: Ugonna Uzochukwu (Enugu Rangers), Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars), Christian Pyagbara (Sharks), Ikenna Hilary (Sunshine Stars), Abdullahi Shehu (Kano Pillars), Joshua Obaje (Warri Wolves)
Forwards: Ejike Uzoenyi (Enugu Rangers), Gbolahan Salami (Shooting Stars), Barnabas Imenger (Lobi Stars), Aliyu Ibrahim (Nasarawa United), Christian Obiozor (Enugu Rangers), Ifeanyi Ede (Enyimba)
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CHAN: No second chance for Iheanacho – Keshi
There will be no second chance for Nigerian under-17 star, Kelechi Iheanacho in the Super Eagles build-up for the 2014 African Nations Championship (Chan) scheduled for South Africa.
According to Nigeria head coach, Stephen Keshi, the youngster has missed one week training with the team since he opted to leave camp to sign for English club, Manchester City.
It is believed that the City deal may have fell through, giving the youngster and his representatives the chance to consider other options.
But Keshi explained to supersport.com that Iheanacho had a bright chance of making the Super Eagles squad for the CHAN which kicks off on January 11 after impressing while in camp.
“Kelechi did really impress us and at the time he was in camp with us he had started getting used to our style of play, the players and officials. In fact he had starting bonding well on and off the pitch with other players. Unfortunately when the call came that he was going abroad to sign a deal for Manchester City I couldn’t have stopped him since he had the backing of his family.
“Right now he’s not part of our plans for the CHAN because we’ve gone ahead with our preparation and team-building without him. And mind you he has lost one week of training and that’s a big gap to catch up with,” said Keshi to supersport.com on Friday.
Keshi is now ready to move on with the players available in the build-up to the tournament next month.
“There are other players in camp who are committed and we will have to work with them and get the best out of them for the tournament,” said the Nigerian manager.
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Okwuosa backs Eagles to shine at CHAN
South Africa-based James Okwuosa has tipped Nigeria to shine at the CHAN because the team will play on good football pitches at the tournament.
Former Enugu Rangers skipper Okwuosa said Nigeria is blessed with abundant talents but lack good pitches in the country, a development that had prevented them from playing to their full capacity.
“Nigeria is blessed with good players and I see them doing well in CHAN in January. The good pitches in South Africa will make the team to do well, we lack those in Nigeria,” MTNFootball.com quoted the Chippa United defender as saying on Friday.
“If I am still in South Africa by then, I will be there to support them from the stands,” he added.
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Brazil 2014: NFF seeks fitness trainer for Eagles
The Nigeria Football Federation is set to hire a fitness trainer for the World Cup in Brazil, officials have disclosed.
The body has therefore started shopping for such a fitness trainer in time for Brazil 2014.
According to a top source at the NFF, the fitness trainer will work across board with all the national teams.
“We realised that one of the secrets that saw our U-17 team through at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates was fitness,” a top official told MTNFootball.com
“And as such we want to ensure that all our national teams could play for 120 minutes without wearing out.
“You know in Brazil a lot of things would count and it would be survival of the fittest.
“We don’t have a time frame or a preferred nationality of this trainer, we just want the best for the national teams.”
None of the national teams in the country has a fitness trainer.
In the 90s, the Eagles drafted members of the armed forces to drill them into full fitness.
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Keshi hopes to improve World Cup record
Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi has revealed his 2014 World Cup target is to surpass the country’s Round of 16 records at the mundial.
Nigeria reached the Round of 16 at USA 1994 and France 1998, but failed to go beyond the group stage in Korea-Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010.
Top Nigeria officials have said they will not set a World Cup target for the team in Brazil so as not to put them under undue pressure.
But Keshi has now said he hopes to lead Nigeria to improve on these records by at least reaching the quarterfinal, which is also the best performance by an African team and has been achieved by Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).
“I am looking out to get a very good squad for the World Cup and go beyond Nigeria’s record in the previous World Cups,”MTNFootball.com quoted Keshi as saying to Brila FM on Monday.
Nigeria is drawn in Group F along with Argentina, Bosnia-Herzogovina and Iran.
Keshi has proposed a pre-World Cup training camp in the United States from May 25.
The African champions had also picked a training base in Sao Paolo and will play a friendly on March 5 in Europe as part of the build-up to Brazil 2014.
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Late Eagles call thrills Mfon Udoh
Newly invited Super Eagles ‘B’ team striker Mfon Udoh has told MTNFootball.com he is thrilled with his late invitation.
Udoh is one of four late call-ups to the Eagles’ training camp in Abuja by coach Stephen Keshi preparatory to next month’s Championship of African Nations (CHAN) in South Africa.
Udoh, who netted 15 times last season for Akwa United, told MTNFootball.com he had lost hope of getting a national team call-up.
“I am happy with this invitation to the Super Eagles. It came to me as a surprise because I had lost hope as I was not called up initially and I thought it wasn’t my time then. I will go into the camp, do my best and leave the rest to God. I won’t disappoint the coach, myself and my fans,” Mfom Udoh told MTNFootball.com.
Udoh, a daring, direct-playing forward, has joined Enyimba ahead of the 2013/2014 season.
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World Cup: Keshi proposes U.S camp for Eagles
Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi , has proposed a United States training camp for the team ahead of 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The Super Eagles training camp will open on May 25.
Keshi said the Eagles would camp in cities with similar weather condition with Brazil and would pick either Maimi or Houston for the training camp, MTNFootball.com reports.
“I have proposed that we camp in the United States because by the time we would be opening our camping the U.S would have the same weather as Brazil,” Keshi said.
“There are several U.S cities that would be hot like Brazil and would have the same temperature like Sao Paolo, where we would be based at the World Cup.”
The former Mali and Togo boss also revealed that he would like to play friendly matches with countries with similar play style with Nigeria’s world Cup group opponents Argentina, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Keshi further said Japan is the only country who has shown interest in playing the Eagles, stating that he would also like to play countries like Peru.
“Considering the countries we have in our group, I would love the Eagles to play countries from the region that have the same playing style. But it would also depend on the availability of such countries because some of them may have concluded their friendly arrangement already,” he said.
“But while in Brazil for the draws I was told Japan is interested in playing us, but I would also like to play countries like Peru,” he told MTNFootball.com.