Guardian

Onigbinde laments outing against Cape Verde

A Few days to the kick off of  the South Africa 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), former Super Eagles midfielder, Ademola Adeshina has cautioned the Coach Stephen Keshi-tutored side not to underrate any team during the soccer fiesta.

With Super Eagles playing a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde on Wednesday, former Super Eagles’ Head Coach Adegboye Onigbinde has said that the teams’ performance against Cape Verde, tells a bad story about African football.

However, Adeshina urged Nigerians to support the team in its quest to do quest to do well in South Africa.

“I think what the Eagles need now is support because they had tried since Coach Keshi took charge. We should forget about the issues of Osaze Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins by throwing all out weight behind the team to succeed. What I just want the Eagles to know is that they should not underrate any team because there is no minnow in football as every team is not a force to reckon. I want to implore Keshi and the players to be determined and take every game serious,” he warned.

Onigbinde told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that there was a need for the technical crew to improve on the team.

“I did not see any exciting moment throughout the ninety minutes of the game and that tells a bad story about African football. But I hope the technical crew will work on the team and make them improve,’’ he said.

Onigbinde, who is a renowned CAF and FIFA instructor, added that the team’s performance against Catalonia was a fluke and should not be used to assess it.

“The match we played against Catalonia was a fluke. Fluke in the sense that all those stars paraded in the opponent’s side had another match for their club the following day. So, they did not come out and play with full zeal which we saw on the pitch; we shouldn’t use the match as an assessment of our team in anyway,’’ he said.

He, however, expressed the hope that the team would lift the trophy. ``My expectation of the team as a patriotic Nigerian is that I am waiting for them to come back with the trophy. ``But I know it does not come with magic nor by talk, but by hard work, and that depends on what the coaches do with the team,’’ Onigbinde said.

Reacting to the 23-man final list released by Coach Stephen Keshi, Onigbinde said the coach had the exclusive right for the choice he made.   “He is in charge of the team and he has the exclusive rights to make the selection of players he feels will be needed. Also, he is the only one that knows the system he wants the players to play and I am sure he made his selection based on that. So, the only thing left is for the technical team to ensure that the players deliver and not fall short of expectations,’’ he said.