Since Keshi's ascent to the managerial position of the national team, players like Godfrey Oboabona of Sunshine Stars and Enugu Rangers' Sunday Mba, who was recently named into the prestigious Goal 50, have become a key part of the Super Eagles.
Coach Stephen Keshi has been commended for giving players in the Nigeria Premier League opportunity to fight for a place in the senior national team.
the Ondo State Football Agency
executive director, Mike Idoko believes Keshi’s success story with the
Super Eagles can be hinged on the fact he never overlooked the
local-based stars stating that it takes a lot of confidence for a
national team handler to take such a risk.
“I must commend Stephen Keshi
for being fearless. He took a risk former managers, even the foreign
ones, couldn’t take. I think he must have borrowed a leaf from [Clemens]
Westerhof because he took time before building the USA '94 team which
we have not been able to assemble up till now. The NFF also must be
commended too because if they had not given him the chance, Keshi
wouldn’t have been successful,” said Idoko.
“All our boys now go to the Super Eagles to fight for a place because
it is glaring that they are no longer training materials like they were
in the past where the foreign-based were picked ahead of them. At the
Africa Cup of Nations, he took along six players which has not happened
before,” he added.
The football administrator, however, warned him not to be carried
away by the home-based performances stating he must select players that
will stand the test of time.
“If this trend continues, the league will experience rapid growth but
the coach should be careful on his choice of local based talents. He
must look at their age and ask himself if those players can play for a
long period of time,” concluded Idoko.
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