We expect battle from Malawi-Keshi

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, expects
the Flames of Malawi to put up their best
fight when they play against Nigeria in the
Word Cup qualifier in Calabar on Saturday.

Keshi led the team in another training
session in the rain on Thursday, making it
twice they would defy nature to prepare
for the crucial game.

"I'm expecting them (Malawi) to fight like
they never did before. They need to win,
while we're okay with a draw," Keshi said
after the training session.

"I'm happy my players are eager to get the
job done. This is the first time I'm having a
full house and it has presented me several
options on the tactics to adopt."

Keshi said he was satisfied with what he
saw in the training but insisted no player
would be guaranteed a starting role on the
match day.

"It is wrong for a player to think all he
needs to do to get a role in the Super
Eagles is to show up for matches," he said.

"When I was still young at the age of 18 or
19, coming into the national team to play
with Sylvanus Okpala, Segun Odegbami,
Mudashiru Lawal, Franklin Howard and
Aloysius Atuegbu, I could see how these
players fought for roles in the team during
training sessions. I recall how Kadiri Ikhana
would train very hard just to retain his
position in the team; that was how we had
a very good team.

"That practice continued through the
(Clemens) Westerhof period, when there
was no assurance of any player getting an
automatic role.

"I was playing in Europe then, but
Westerhof would tell me, 'Hey, if you don't
play good, you won't make the team.
You're my captain but no good play, no
shirt.' He was right, so I had to give
everything I had in training to keep my
position. That attitude helped us during our
era. And
that's how it is everywhere in the
world."

The former Togo coach said building the
team with players from the Nigerian league
had helped in
strengthening the squad and
given it stability.

"It's a shame that the players in the
domestic league were not given more time
in the national team to prove themselves. I
had to go back and look into that because I
believe that 99.99 per cent of the players
that had played for Nigeria were from the
domestic league. So how can anyone tell
me that with our 140 million people we
can't have good home-based players
playing in the national team. We might as
well cancel the league.

"I don't know if they (former Super Eagles
coaches) were scared or not, but in every
other country I had worked, I had to start
building the national teams from the
domestic leagues. The more you give
opportunities to the domestic league
players, the better the national team would
be. It was like that in Mali and Togo so I
had to do the same thing in Nigeria.
"I can understand some of the coaches for
snubbing the players because it is not an
easy thing to do. The players are very raw
and need to be refined. They need to be
instilled with confidence and taught new
things. All these things take time, and most
of our coaches probably didn't have time
for that so they relied on foreign-based
players. I also rely on foreign-based
players but they must start from home."

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