Nigerian football was not in a good place when Stephen Keshi took over as coach of the Super Eagles in October 2011. Failure to beat Guinea in a decisive 2012 Nations Cup qualifier in Abuja meant Nigeria had failed to qualify for the first time since 1986 and marked the end of the disappointing two year tenure of Samson Siasia. Keshi came in with a clear, daunting mandate to, not only rebuild a disjointed team, but to also secure qualification for both the 2013 Nations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.
As Nigeria completed a 4-1 aggregate defeat of Ethiopia to claim a World Cup spot in Calabar last weekend, it’s safe to say the former national team captain has delivered on all fronts.
Before completing their successful passage to Brazil, the Super Eagles had not only reached the 2013 Nations Cup finals, but they won the whole shebang in South Africa earlier this year, giving Nigeria its first continental title since 1994, back when Keshi captained the side.
More importantly, Keshi has built a new team, founded on talent, youth, hard work, and an unflinching commitment to the cause. And he’s done it in the most unconventional of ways, picking players solely on merit, with little regard for reputation and track record, and without relying on the established “big names” that have been the bane of Nigeria’s failings in recent times.
Success on the field doesn’t mean it’s all been smooth sailing for Keshi, though. Nigerians had, for many years, yearned for a coach who would get those “tired, old legs” out of the Super Eagles and one would have expected that Keshi’s approach – picking young, hungry “unknown” players from Europe and the domestic league – would have all but sealed his popularity amongst the Eagles’ faithful. One would have been wrong. Sometimes, when you give the people what they want, you can find that they don’t actually want it anymore.
The criticism that followed the announcement of Keshi’s Nations Cup squad - a bunch that included six home-based players and 17 players who had never been to a major tournament – was a perfect case in point. No tired old legs, only young hungry boys, just as the people had demanded. Yet, Keshi was suddenly the bad guy, risking Nigeria’s success in the name of “experimenting”. Not since Clemens Westerhof took a new team to Algeria in 1990 had Nigeria been to the finals with a squad so inexperienced and, as the Nations Cup finals kicked off in January, the fans, the media and even the federation were all skeptical.
But Keshi bravely stuck to his guns, insisting that is team had what it takes to make the nation proud and keeping his players focused on the job at hand. Then he rode out even more criticism as his team drew its first two games in South Africa – to Burkina Faso and Zambia - and only started winning over the doubters when they beat favourites Ivory Coast in the quarter finals. Two games later, the Eagles were African champions.
There were bumps on the road to World Cup qualification as well, as the Eagles struggled to find goals in matches against Namibia, Kenya, and Malawi. Amazingly, Keshi’s team managed to score just once in each of their first 5 matches in this group – two wins and three draws in which all their goals came after the 80th minute. That they required late equalisers to get points out of seemingly easy games against Kenya, at home, and Namibia certainly didn’t inspire confidence. But a comfortable 2-0 win against Malawi in the last game ultimately put them through the group, and set up the Ethiopia tie.
Through it all, Keshi, has consistently demonstrated exemplary leadership and courage. It certainly took guts to leave out the likes of Peter Odemwingie – much to his surprise – and Obafemi Martins, but to then go ahead and put his trust in untried players like Ogenyi Onazi, Kenneth Omeruo and Sunday Mba, all of who played key roles in the Nations Cup win, took it to another level.
To be fair, circumstance also played a hand in forming Keshi’s team. For instance, it took an injury to captain Joseph Yobo for Omeruo to get a chance at the Nations Cup, but not many coaches would have then kept the 19-year-old – who’d never even played at senior level before then - in the team even after Yobo recovered. In the same light, Fegor Ogude was Keshi’s first choice in defensive midfield, until suspension kept him out of the quarter finals and 20-year-old Onazi stepped in and proved an obvious upgrade. As for Mba, the Enugu Rangers midfielder who scored the winner against Ivory Coast and the cup clinching goal in the final, Keshi thrust him in to replace the under-performing Nosa Igiebor, who had started the first two games.
Keshi’s biggest impact though, may well be the effect he has had on the attitude of the team’s best player, Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi, who has grown in maturity over the past two years and is now one of the clear leaders of this talented group. It’s proved a mutually beneficial relationship for both coach and player; Mikel gets to express himself more freely than he does at Chelsea, and Keshi gets a talented player fully committed to the team’s objectives.
To be sure, Keshi still has his detractors – not least those who think Yobo should still have a place in the team –and the Super Eagles certainly still have room for improvement. The Ethiopia win last weekend, like many of the World Cup qualifiers, wasn’t the best of performances, even if the result was just right. Then again, the 2-2 draw with Italy two days later – played with seven regulars rested – showed just how far this team has progressed in such a short time, and how much further they could yet go.
And that, without any doubt, is down to the stellar work of Stephen Keshi.
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