Nigeria
coach, Stephen Keshi, has proposed the United States as camp venue for
the Super Eagles ahead of the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
Keshi who spoke at the weekly media
interaction of the team in Abuja on Wednesday, said he chose the USA
because some of the cities have similar weather conditions with Brazil.
The two venues listed for consideration are Miami in Florida and
Houston, Texas. The final decision will be taken by the Nigeria Football
Federation. The NFF and Keshi were scheduled to meet with the Minister
of Sports Bolaji Abdullahi late on Wednesday but the meeting could not
eventually hold. The World Cup programmes of the coach and the FA were
top on the agenda.
He said, “I have proposed that we camp in
the United States because by the time we would be opening our camping
in the US group should have the same weather as Brazil. There are
several US cities that will be hot like Brazil and would have the same
temperature like Sao Paolo, where we will be based at the World Cup.”
Keshi also spoke on the World Cup draw
said that many followers of the team had wrongly analysed the group with
too much emphasis on Argentina. He said that it would be wrong for
anybody to underrate the other teams in the group.
“Why are we talking of only Argentina,
we can defeat Argentina but Iran qualified long before us and Bosnia
Herzegovina also did their qualification in style with plenty goals and
we must not underrate any of these teams,” he said.
On the road to the Championship of
African Nations, Keshi said he was yet to secure a ready team for the
competition holding in South Africa from January 11 to February 1.
According to him, assembling a formidable squad had become more
difficult following the exodus of Nigerian players to foreign clubs.
“We don’t have a team yet because about
65 to 70 per cent of the players that we are used to have gone. So, we
are trying to see how we can make the ones we have now fit into the game
for us to have a presentable team in South Africa. It is difficult to
keep these players; there was no way we can keep Kelechi Iheanacho who
has gone to Manchester City because there was already a discussion
before he came.
“But if there was no discussion before he
came to camp, I would not have allowed him to go because we also need
him,” Keshi said.
PUNCH NG
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