Fans Advise Keshi To Reinforce Eagles’ Attack

Football stakeholders in Ilorin have advised Coach Stephen Keshi to reinforce the Super Eagles attack, ahead of the team's make-or-mar encounter with the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia on Tuesday.

Scores of football fans, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Saturday, said that the team had so far performed poorly.

NAN reports that the 1-1 draw the team played against the Zambians would be the second in a row after its earlier 1-1 draw with the Stallions of Burkina Faso.

The Stallions had meanwhile, trounced Walya Antelopes 4-0, to boost their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

The Eagles would have to defeat the Walya Antelopes by a wide margin, without conceding any; to stand a chance of progressing to the Quarter finals of the tournament.

Alloy Chukwuemeka, the General Manager of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki FC of Ilorin, said the performance of the Eagles in the championship was below average.

He stressed that the team’s attack should consist of Ike Uche, Ahmed Musa and Emmanuel Emenike for the desired results in the team's subsequent matches.

“The defence is better, especially with the removal of Joseph Yobo from the line. You can see that his omission was not felt at all.

“Let him combine Uche, Musa and Emenike together, instead of substituting one for the other,” the ABS manager said.

In the same vein, Coach Tunde Kazeem, the Director, Kwara Sports Council, also described the team’s performance as unimpressive.

The coach told NAN that he was, however, optimistic that the team would qualify from the group stage.

He harped on the need for Keshi and his technical crew to be on their feet during matches in order to appropriately direct the proceedings from the sidelines.

“All departments needed to be reinforced.

“The issue of substitution and the time to do so is a decision that should be left to the coaches.

“They are also monitoring as well. I noticed that their game is improving with each match; their performance against the Zambians was an improvement on their performance against Burkina Faso,” he added.

Mr Kunle Alao, said that the Eagles should strive to score as many goals as possible, to avert the disappointment of having a slender lead being cancelled out through an equaliser.

“If Nigeria had scored more goals in the first place, the issue of a shock equaliser at the dying minute would not be,” he said.

Meanwhile Julius Ogunro the Special Assistant on Media to Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, the Minister of Sports has said that the team was improving with each match.

“I urge fans to be patient and not relent in their support for the Super Eagles.

“The team will surely defeat the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia to boost its chances of playing in the quarter-finals of the AFCON,’’ he added.

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