All the preparations, all the flying and all the withdrawals will not
count when Referee Noumandiez Doue from Cote d’Ivoire blows the whistle
to commence the World Cup qualifier between the Super Eagles and the Harambee Stars at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani on Wednesday at 2pm.
All that will matter at the end is whether the African champions get
the three points to continue to hold their own destiny in their hands as
qualification for the 2014 World Cup enters the final bend. The first
match against the Harambee Stars in April showed a Kenyan team that was
ready to soak up all the pressure and hit on the break though their goal
was a masterfully taken free-kick. They had other chances on the
counter but did not take it and were punished by Nnamdi Oduamadi’s
equaliser in the 93rd minute.
But on Wednesday, the Super Eagles shorn of Emmanuel Emenike and
Victor Moses will attempt to do what they did in 2009 – beat the
Harambee Stars in Kasarani. Emotions still run high from that match as
it was alleged that the Eagles won by scoring two offside goals. So to
Wednesday’s encounter – coach Stephen Keshi has bemoaned the flight and
travel arrangements for his team and has said God is on his team’s side
but that is all psychology. What he needs to tell his players is that
they cannot afford to draw talk less of losing in Nairobi.
The Super Eagles have shown over the last two years under Keshi that
they are a hard team to beat so that quality must come to the fore on
Wednesday – make it very hard for the Kenyans to get into any rhythm and
quieten the partisan crowd. At every point, the players should take
their time in taking goal kicks, throw-ins and all set plays. The
Kenyans will be in a rush to score and will play a very high tempo game
in their high altitude, the Nigerians must slow it down at every
opportunity.
But more significantly, at the end of the day, whether they play well
or not – they need to get the desired result – and that is a win.
