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Nigeria Coach Stephen Keshi has stated clearly that the African champions will not settle for anything less than the three maximum points when they take on Kenya in Nairobi in a crucial 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on Wednesday.
A confident Keshi added at the team’s only training session in the Kenyan capital on Tuesday that the Harambee Stars’ 1-1 draw with the Super Eagles in the first match in Calabar in March was in the past, and that his boys retain their focus of earning a ticket to Brazil next year summer.
“We respect the Kenyans for what they achieved when we played in Nigeria, but I like to state that is in the past. We have forgotten about that, just as we are not going to be thinking about the fact that we have beaten Kenya in nine of 11 previous meetings.
“The important thing is that we have a mission here and that is to pick the maximum points and then go to Namibia to do same. That way, we would have enhanced our chances of qualification for the World Cup before going to the Confederations Cup.”
The former Nigeria captain admitted that the team would have loved to have midfielders Victor Moses and Kalu Uche and striker Emmanuel Emenike with them in Nairobi, but that his gameplan is not significantly affected.
“Our focus is unaffected and our determination not in anyway weakened. We were forced to a 2-2 draw by Mexico in a friendly match in America last week, even without a good number of our regulars.
“On Wednesday, we would go out on the field to do the job and in the process, do our country proud.”
The Super Eagles flew into Nairobi around 1.20am on Tuesday morning, from Frankfurt via Khartoum and Addis Ababa, and immediately headed for their La Mada Hotel secured by the Nigeria Football Federation.
Source: Vanguard
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