Not many people spared coach
Stephen Okechukwu Keshi
when he likened his boys to
that of 1994 squad before the
2013 Africa Cup of Nations
hosted by South Africa. He was
roundly vilified for daring to
compared his 'amateur' team
with the all-conquering 1994
set.
Keshi had on
Monday, January 14
in a chat with
Supersport.com at the team's
camp in Faro, Portugal said that,
"many Nigerians don't know
how good this team is. I see
great potentials in them and
they can go places," adding that
"in Emenike I see a player who
can be like Rashidi Yekini and
Godfrey Obaobona will grow in
his position".
2013 Eagles Squad Shortly after
Keshi's comment went viral, it
was received with knocks from
some people including his
former team mates. One of those
that disagreed with him is Peter
Rufai. Rufai who manned the
posts both at the 1994 Cup of
Nations and the FIFA World Cup
said, "our '94 squad was poles
apart."
He said although the present
Eagles could boast of some
talented footballers, "they still
cannot be compared with the
team of our time."
Rufai recalled: "Remember, 1994
was not our first Nations Cup as
some of us had been in the
national team since Libya '82.
We were in Cote d'Ivoire '84,
Egypt '86, Maroc '88, Algiers '90
and Senegal '92 before Tunisia
'94. You can see the difference.
The present crop of players have
to be there for some time to be
compared to our team."
Apart from experience, which
Rufai said comes with time, the
former goalkeeper said, "during
our time, we played a lot of
matches, our league was good
and the competition for shirts in
the national team was stiffer. We
went through a lot to get to the
national team."
He noted that the Eagles
preparing for the Nations Cup in
South Africa were an upcoming
team that need encouragement
and could not be compared with
1994 set.
1994 Eagles Squad Note that the
'94 squad won the Nations Cup
in Tunisia(Nigeria's second after
1980) and also qualified the
nation for her first World Cup in
USA'94.
The 1994 Super Eagles squad
paraded the likes of Skipper
Stephen Keshi, Sunday Oliseh,
George Finidi, Emmanuel
Amunike, Austin Jay Jay Okocha,
Dan Amokachi, Austin Eguavoen,
Peter Rufai, Uche Okechukwu,
Uche Okafor(late), Rashidi Yekini
(late), Emeka Ezeugo, Aloy Agu,
Ben Iroha, Chidi Nwanu, Oliha
Thompson, Samson Siasia, Mutiu
Adepoju, Victor Ikpeba, Efan
Ekoku and Mike Emenalo among
others.
The present Eagles squad
include the likes of Vincent
Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Elderson
Echiejile, Juwon Oshaniwa,
Joseph Yobo, Efe Ambrose,
Kenneth Omeruo, Godfrey
Oboabona, Mikel Obi, Nosa
Igiebor, Ogenyi Onazi, Fegor
Ogude, Ahmed Musa, Emmanuel
Emenike, Brown Ideye, Victor
Moses, Ikechukwu Uche, Ejike
Uzoenyi, and Sunday Mba,
among others.
Note: Keshi was quoted as
saying when he described his
team as work-in-progress that
what took the '94 squad, which
he was a part of, five years to
achieve took his boys only five
weeks to do.
In view of this, do you think
Keshi has been vindicated? Can
the present Eagles in any way be
compared with that of 1994
squad based on their recent
performance?