Calabar strengthened us — Keshi

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has said that he is quite comfortable going into the match against Namibia on Sunday because of the way the team has prepared for the game. The former Nigeria captain told The PUNCH that the camping in Calabar has given him much broader view of the team as the programme has been the most effective since he took charge.
He said, “We are doing much better by the day but this camping has been quite unique and very effective. This has been the most effective for us as a team. This is the very first time we have had the opportunity to train with the complete set of both Europe-based players and those from the league here for a fairly long period. In other matches they featured they arrived in the camps too close to match day. So against Zambia, Botswana and Rwanda we never got this kind of sessions. Since Monday we’ve been together and it has helped us a great deal.”
Keshi is optimistic that the gains of the one week bonding will reflect very well in the way they prosecute the match against the Namibians on Sunday.
The Eagles, who trained for the first three days at the University of Calabar Sports Centre, moved to the UJ Esuene Stadium on Thursday.
On Thursday, Keshi, also said that he was not under any form of pressure from the Nigeria Football Federation or any quarters to excel with the national team even though excellence is his ultimate desire as handler of the Eagles.

PUNCH NEWSPAPER