By Eddie Akalonu
One time Nigeria Football Association board-member, Brigadier-General Gregory Adebiyi (rtd) has tipped the Super Eagles to overcome the Liberia's Lone Star and pick the ticket to the African Cup of Nations in South Africa next year.
Despite playing to a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Monrovia, General Adebiyi however, noted that the odds still favour Nigeria to win although he acknowledges that Keshi and the players must up their game to ensure total victory when the two teams meet in Calabar next month.
"Let me advice Keshi not to engage in any war of words with the opponents but stay focused on preparations for the match because the Liberians want to use all available tactics to distract him and our team and the weapon open to them is come here and make noise such that would make our team lose concentration. I'm sure the opponents have realised they have no chance against us here even though they will try to put up a fight to see if we will buckle to hand them what they could not achieve in their place," he stated.
The former NFA technical committee chairman gave his nod to Keshi's plan for the up-coming game, part of which is to get the players to report to camp days early to play as a team and conclude match plans.
He enjoined Keshi and his assistants to concentrate on strategies that win games particularly improving on the team's cohesion and scoring ability in matches of this nature, saying that "goals and only goals are the only things that matter. Like I said, we can win it but the team must work harder.
Vanguard Nigeria