Super
Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, expects the Flames of Malawi to put up
their best fight when they play against Nigeria in the Word Cup
qualifier in Calabar on Saturday.
Keshi led the team in another training
session in the rain on Thursday, making it twice they would defy nature
to prepare for the crucial game.
“I’m expecting them (Malawi) to fight
like they never did before. They need to win, while we’re okay with a
draw,” Keshi said after the training session.
“I’m happy my players are eager to get
the job done. This is the first time I’m having a full house and it has
presented me several options on the tactics to adopt.”
Keshi said he was satisfied with what he
saw in the training but insisted no player would be guaranteed a
starting role on the match day.
“It is wrong for a player to think all he needs to do to get a role in the Super Eagles is to show up for matches,” he said.
“When I was still young at the age of 18
or 19, coming into the national team to play with Sylvanus Okpala,
Segun Odegbami, Mudashiru Lawal, Franklin Howard and Aloysius Atuegbu, I
could see how these players fought for roles in the team during
training sessions. I recall how Kadiri Ikhana would train very hard just
to retain his position in the team; that was how we had a very good
team.
“That practice continued through the
(Clemens) Westerhof period, when there was no assurance of any player
getting an automatic role.
“I was playing in Europe then, but
Westerhof would tell me, ‘Hey, if you don’t play good, you won’t make
the team. You’re my captain but no good play, no shirt.’ He was right,
so I had to give everything I had in training to keep my position. That
attitude helped us during our era. And that’s how it is everywhere in
the world.”
The former Togo coach said building the
team with players from the Nigerian league had helped in strengthening
the squad and given it stability.
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