Reps back Keshi for World Cup
The House of Representatives Committee on Sports has confirmed that Coach Stephen Keshi will be the man to lead Nigeria to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Keshi, who led the Super Eagles to win a third Africa Cup of Nations title in South Africa last year has been in the mix of chitchat claiming a foreigner will be employed to take charge of the team during the quadrennial football showpiece.
Speaking on this issue on Sunday in Abuja, Deputy Chairman of the committee Ayo Omidiran said tales about a foreign manager are not true while insisting the former Togo and Mali handler has what it takes to lead the Eagles to glory.
“Nobody is planning to hire a foreign coach or any coach at all to replace Keshi,” confirmed Omidiran.
“When I first heard about this, I made enquiries and the NFF said there was nothing of such. Let us take the NFF for their word. We should not push them to do it.
“Keshi is not new in coaching. He has taken other African countries to the highest level of football.
“I don’t know why anybody will say that Keshi is not qualified to take Nigeria to the World Cup. He will take Nigeria there.
“Let us allow Keshi to concentrate on his job. In football, there are no clear-cut results until the full time.
“Names on paper don’t produce results; it is a team game and unity of purpose is very important. Therefore, hard work and prayer will improve the lot of the Super Eagles”, she concluded.
Coach Stephen Keshi is expected to name his provisional squad for the competition which starts in June next week.