simon gonner: By Onochie Anibeze
Clemens Westerhof, the
Dutch coach who won the
Nations Cup for Nigeria in
1994, Qualified Nigeria for
their first ever World Cup
finals in USA ’94 and the man
who made Nigeria the best
football country in Africa
before the plunge started
when he left, has spoken on
the final with Burkina Faso
today.
“I’ll send my regards to Keshi
and tell him how happy and
excited I am that he is in the
final of Africa Cup of Nations.
When they appointed him I
told Nigerians to support
him. As a player, Keshi had
leadership abilities. And
when I was leaving Nigeria, I
told him to get ready to take
over.
He said, coach I have seen all
the problems you have been
facing and I’m not sure I can
do it. I told him that he had
to because he was the boss,
the leader of the players.
Clemens Westerhof
Clemens Westerhof
He said, coach you are the
super boss and you know
how to get things done. I
told him that he had equally
learnt well and should be
able to lead Nigeria well. He
was in Togo and Mali and
now a man. I’m happy about
what is happening today.
And now the cup is coming
to Nigeria, I tell you. It is
coming, 100 per cent.
Keshi, Amokachi and the man
who played in Portugal
(Sylvanus Okpala) all played
for big clubs and should
know how to handle big
occasions. They have a good
team.
Victor Moses is good,
excellent player. They will
play against a team that has
hard workers. Burkina Faso
players work very hard. They
have players who work and
work and are not tired of
working.
But if you compare the
technical abilities of the two
sides, Nigeria is better.
Nigeria has better players
but Burkina Faso has harder
workers. Therefore, Nigeria
must score first. They must
score, say 2-0 and the game
is over. That is what they
must do. I am sure Keshi
knows what to do. Nigeria is
the most important football
country in Africa and the
country must prove it. I’m
happy this is happening.
Send my regards to
Nigerians and tell them the
cup is ours.”
At Tunisia ’94, he repeatedly
told the media “the cup is
us”. He meant ‘ours’.
He said the same thing Friday
evening but this time the
word was right. Westerhof
spoke from his base in
Arhnem, Holland.