No regret dropping Osaze, others – Keshi

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has said that he does not need all the good players in Nigeria to build a strong team and as such does not regret leaving out any player for the African cup.

Keshi dropped West Bromwich striker Osaze Odemwingie and Levante top scorer Obafemi Martins and kept faith in many players who had not appeared in any major international tournament at the senior level – some of them were picked from the Nigerian league.

The coach said most Nigerians did not understand why he dropped the players, noting that the present team has performed excellently without the players he rejected.

He said, “When we were in Portugal, there were lots of problems in Nigeria because I decided to drop some of my good players. Most Nigerians did not understand but I know why I dropped them. You don’t need all the good players to do the job for you in a tournament; sometimes what you need is strong mentality in the team.

“You need team players and those who will work for the team. There are lots of talents in this team but they need time to play together to understand themselves.”

The coach gave the impression that he was not under pressure when the team was struggling to qualify from the group stage of the 2013 Nations Cup. After the victory over Mali in the semi-final on Wednesday, Keshi said he was aware of the difficulties ahead when the team arrived in South Africa for the tournament.

He said, “When we started, it was a little bit difficult. We were just coming together for the first time. Most of the players had two or three days to work together during the qualifying series.

“But during the preparation for the competition, we worked hard. I knew that the first two or three games in the tournament might be hard for us because of fatigue and other difficult factors. In a competition like this, you never can tell what’s going to be. But the moment we got it right, that is it; we started winning because of the high level of discipline and commitment in the camp.”

Keshi said the present team were still not as good as the 1994 squad that won the Nations Cup in Tunisia and qualified for the World Cup. Keshi was the captain of the side but he highlighted the difference between the two teams.

“The 1994 squad took five years to build. This team is just five week-old. I don’t want people to get it wrong, we are just growing. Don’t think we are there yet. We are still adding and subtracting and if I see any player that will add quality to the team, I will bring him in,” the coach said.

PUNCH