Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi
Ex-international
Patrick Pascal has defended Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi’s
decision to invite Gabriel Reuben and Kenneth Omeruo for the return leg
2014 World Cup playoff against Ethiopia in Calabar on November 16 and
the friendly clash against Italy in London two days later.
Keshi on Sunday named the duo in his
25-man squad for the two encounters and the former Nigeria captain has
got a lot of stick from some sections of the media for the decision.
Midfielder Reuben has yet to play for
Scottish club Kilmarnock since he joined them from Kano Pillars in the
summer due to a long-term injury. The 23-year-old was part of the
squad that won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa in
February, but the injury denied him a chance to showcase his talents at
the tournament.
Defender Omeruo, who was injured at the
FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil in June, has neither played in a
competitive game for Chelsea since he returned to Stamford Bridge from
his loan spell at Dutch club Heerenveen in the summer nor for Nigeria.
But former Eagles defender Pascal insists Keshi acted correctly by including them in his plans.
“I want to believe that Keshi decided to
invite them because we have an 80 per cent chance to qualify for the
World Cup,” the ex-Shooting Stars player told our correspondent on the
telephone during the week.
“Some people are condemning Reuben’s
invitation because we have many good midfielders but they must realise
that he’s a quality player.
“It’s unfortunate that he has yet to feature for his new club due to injury. It’s not his fault.
“We should remember that he was commanding a regular starting role in the team before he got injured.
“As a domestic league player, he was benching foreign-based players during the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
“Keshi would have started him at the Africa Cup of Nations if he wasn’t injured.
“I think Keshi believes in Reuben and probably has him in his World Cup plans. I think it’s the same with Omeruo.
No comments:
Post a Comment