Keshi: I Won't Be Distracted Ahead Of World Cup

 

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has told Complete Sports that he is a professional who cannot be distracted of his focus despite the pressure he is facing from both the Nigeria Football Federation and some Nigerians ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup holding in Brazil next summer.

The former Super Eagles captain who was reportedly demanding for the reinstatement of sacked Sylvanus Okpalla in the senior national team said he remains focused and will continue to do what he feels will make his job easy and better the national team before the World Cup.

“I don’t want to believe that anybody is capable of distracting my focus ahead of the World Cup, it is normal in an environment we are for people to come up with their opinion but as a professional, I remain focused and will do my best to make sure that the team gets better before the World Cup”, says the former Belgium based ex-international.

“The CHAN assignment is over and I should discuss with my employers to know the plans they have for us as a team so that we will know what to do at a particular point in time. We have some friendly matches coming up soon and we are trying to prepare ahead. We may decide to start the camping with home based players but when the time comes, we will definitely know how best to approach it.

Keshi who also expressed happiness in the team he took to the recently concluded CAF African Nations Championship in South Africa said the performance of the players has clearly shown that when the World Cup camp opens, he would not have problem knowing the players that will be invited from the local scene.

“We must all praise the boys so that they can be encouraged, for me, I think they did their best and I have seen what I wanted to know in each of the players. We can start from where we stopped but when the time comes, we will see how we handle that.

Several international friendly matches have been lined up for the Super Eagles ahead of the World Cup which include Croatia.