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Abuja – The Super Eagles’ Head Coach, Stephen Keshi , on Tuesday in Abuja said he was focussing on the home-based team’s midfield ahead of its July 27 game in Abidjan.
Keshi said this after the team’s first training session for the clash with the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN) Qualifiers.
“Although they (the players) did what I wanted in the first leg game in Kaduna, there is still room for improvement.
“We need to work much harder, most especially on our midfield, even though the attack and our finishing can also be improved,” he told newsmen.
The Super Eagles had whipped Cote d’Ivoire 4-1 in Kaduna in the first leg match of the 2014 CHAN final qualifying round.
The Super Eagles coach said the team had had much more time to prepare for the return leg, compared to what obtained before the first leg match of July 6.
“This has been good for the team. We need to stay together more, to be more compact, because that match (the first leg game) was the first one the team was playing together then.
“We didn’t have much time then. But now that we have about 10 days to prepare, we will work on those areas and hopefully, they will understand better what they are supposed to do,” Keshi said.
He assured that the Ivorian football authorities’ decision to host the match on a synthetic field would not affect the Super Eagles.
“We don’t want to put it on our mind that it is a synthetic pitch. All we need to do is to bear in our minds that we will qualify for CHAN.
“All we need to do is to play our game, no matter where they put us. Even if it is on a pitch made with cement, we have to play.
“We also have that mental attitude that we are here in camp to do a job, and we want to play our game,” Keshi said.
23 out of the 24 players invited to camp for the match were present at the team’s first training session, with Godfrey Oboabona as the only one unavailable.
Keshi said the player had informed him he would be coming in late, and would report at the camp later in the day. (NAN)
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