The past must be forgotten and
the future sought with renewed
vigour – that is the message
that Coach Stephen Keshi will
drum into the ears of his players
as the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers resume with the tie
against the Harambee Stars
delicately poised. The Eagles have momentum from
their surprise win in South Africa
in January but the momentum
must be channelled positively and
that means the Kenyans must be
put to the sword. There will be no surprises in the
Super Eagles as the core of the
team that started the final at
the Nations Cup should start
again barring any last minute
hitches and changes. Obafemi Martins should start as the main striker with Brown Ideye and
Victor Moses as the supporting
cast. Martins must try to make
his runs behind the Kenyan
defenders continuously until he is
tired. Leading the midfield will be Mikel Obi, supported by Ogenyi Onazi, whose bustle and energy will be
needed against Victor Wanyama
and this is where the coach must
get it right – bringing in John Ogu to replace Sunday Mba. This move
will mean that Onazi has the
license to carry the ball into
attack and for Mikel to move into
more advanced areas. Ogu is a
tough tackling midfielder who also can be a box-to-box midfielder
like Onazi. Or else, the Eagles can play Mikel
in a deep playmaking position with
Ogu and Onazi ahead of him. In defence, Chibuzor Okonkwo
should slot in at right back to
replace Efe Ambrose. The Rangers
man will bring added goal threat
from his wide position as he joins
the attack. He is also very adept at free kicks. And the quiet mien
of Enyeama will complete that
back line. The Kenyans will play five in
midfield to combat the spaces
that can be created by the
Eagles which means Dennis Oliech
will be the lone front man. The
Ajaccio striker is big and strong and also full of running so expect
Omeruo to be his shadow for the
game. There cannot be another setup
except playing on the counter for
the Harambee Stars as they
cannot go toe to toe with the
African champions. They will hope
to keep the score barren over the first 20 minutes to cause
disquiet in the stands. Kenya is ranked 127th in the
world against Nigeria's 30th
placement. The last time both
teams met was in the 2010 World
Cup qualifier in Nairobi. The match
ended 3-2 in favour of the Nigerians after Kenya had led at
the break 1-0 through an Oliech
goal. In eight official matches, Nigeria
has won seven with one drawn
and the favourite scoreline has
been 3-0 and we can't look
further than having a similar
score on Saturday. But if the Eagles manage to score
within the first ten minutes, the
Kenyans will have to abandon
their game plan of counter
attacking and try for a goal
which could make for a roasting.

I watched Nigeria Kenya, although Nigeria played well but people expected Nigeria super eagle team to beat Kenya hands down. But it didn't happen. The match ended 1-1.