Super Eagles’ Chief Coach, Stephen Keshi, on Tuesday in Abuja defended the call-up he extended to midfielder Sani Kaita ahead of the team’s February 29 clash with Rwanda.
It will be recalled that Keshi had on February 16 invited Kaita and 10 other foreign-based players to the senior national team in preparation for the match.
Kaita, who is with SC Tavriya Simferopol of Ukraine, last played for the national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.
He bagged a red card in the match against Greece, a match Nigeria eventually lost 1-2.
Speaking to newsmen after the Eagles’ training, Keshi said it would have been insensitive of him to call up an injured player for a very crucial match knowing what was at stake.
“ Some journalists have been misleading Nigerians that Kaita have not played in his club for about two years now, but this is not so.
“ If he is injured, does anyone think he will be invited? We (the team’s technical crew) don’t do that here. Maybe in the past they (technical crew) did. But for now, we don’t and won’t,’’ he said.
Keshi disclosed that he had talked to Kaita personally, as well as his club manager, and that there was nothing that showed that the player was injured.
“ We know what is at stake and we won’t take anything for granted,’’ he said.
On the team’s preparation for 2013 African Nations Cup qualifier in Kigali, the coach said the training time was for the players to adapt to the match’s kick-off time.
He, however, said he was happy with the attitude of the players and the other members of the technical staff.
“I like the response from the players and the rest of the technical crew. We are all on the same pitch. So, the struggle continues,’’ he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment