Keshi lauds Austin Ejide’s professionalism

The national team coach says that the Hapoel Be'er Sheva goalkeeper will have an opportunity to stake a claim to the number spot against South Africa next month Hapoel Be’er Sheva goalkeeper Austin Ejide has been praised Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi for his professional attitude on and off the field of play. The coach who has been with the national team for almost two years hailed the professional conduct of the Israel-based goalkeeper and has tipped him to man the post in the Nelson Mandela Challenge against South Africa on August 14. Ejide has been deputy to number one Vincent Enyeama in the national team for more than a decade. He has made 25 appearances for Nigeria since making his debut in 2001. The 29-year-old enjoyed his most extensive run in the side during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations where he was in goal in all four matches that the team played. “One good thing about Ejide is that he is just a professional person. I remember his wedding was initially fixed for June this year but he moved the wedding to July because of the Fifa Confederations Cup and World Cup qualifiers. So how patriotic can a player be again,” Keshi said. He also explained the reason for excluding stand in captain Enyeama from the squad that will play against Bafana Bafana next month. “I wanted to have Ejide fill the goal post. He has been working very hard but Vincent Enyeama is my number one choice goalkeeper. But I need Enyeama more in the match against Malawi on the 5th of September. So I told Ejide to go out there and prove yourself and also get ready should anything happen. “That is the reason and there is no other reason why Enyeama was not included,” said Keshi.

Cote d'Ivoire - Nigeria Match Preview: Keshi hopes to lead Eagles over Elephants

                                      

With a 4-1 lead going into the second leg, coach Stephen Keshi and his boys will be doubly confident that they will get the job done in Abidjan on Saturday. Though Keshi has continuously stated that he is preparing the team to withstand whatever kind of barrage will be thrown at them. It is expected that the Eagles will name the same team that won in Kaduna three weeks’ ago excluding injured striker Gambo Mohammed who should be replaced by Etebo Oghene in the starting XI. The Elephants on the other hand are hurting from the perceived ‘injustice’ at the hands of the referee in the first leg as they had a penalty given against them and then had two players sent off. And their coach, Saraka Norbert believes the Nigerian team will play defensively which will afford the home team the opportunity to attack for all of 90 minutes. The trick for the Elephants will be to score in the first ten minutes of the encounter to make the crowd more vociferous though on the evidence of the first leg, they will be open to counter attacks from the Eagles as they go all out to cancel the three goals deficit. The two teams have met 18 times with six victories for Nigeria and seven draws and it is almost a safe bet that Sunday Mba will get on the score sheet for the Eagles.

Mourinho calm over Rooney coup

Despite Manchester United rejecting Chelsea's offer, the Blues boss insists he is in no panic to secure the England international's signature Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted he is calm regarding the club's attempt to lure Wayne Rooney to the club, despite a lack of progress with the proposed transfer. The Blues had an opening offer for the wantaway striker immediately rejected last Tuesday and are expected to return with an improved bid. Mourinho recently suggested an over-long transfer saga could affect the "balance" of a team very close to the start of the season, but hinted the club are in no hurry to force a move. "At this moment we have made what you know; that bid which was public and official and after that nothing else," he told reporters. "But we are calm as we told you that we are calm because we are happy with what we have." Mourinho was speaking after Chelsea's emphatic 8-1 victory over Indonesia All Stars, with Ramires and Romelu Lukaku both grabbing doubles. Fernando Torres failed to register on the scoresheet, but Mourinho believes the Spaniard will improve the added competition for places after Lukaku's return from a loan spell with West Brom. "I think Fernando should be happy because we have competition in the team and I think that is good for everybody in every position," he told reporters. "Fernando I think will be pleased because during his time at Chelsea he was basically the only striker and then after that there was the arrival of Ba in January. Now the team has three strikers and I think that is good." Mourinho also confirmed the injured trio of Frank Lampard, Andre Schurrle and Kevin De Bruyne are all expected to train with the squad next week.