Eagles’ll Flop At 2014 World Cup –Hon. Kusah
Should Nigeria
eventually qualify for next year’s World Cup in Brazil, the Super Eagles
would only be going to the Samba nation to make up the numbers.
Former Benue State Sports Commissioner, Hon. Mike Kusah, who gave the prediction, said the defence of the Nigerian team he saw at the recently concluded FIFA Confederations Cup does not have what it takes to stop world class strikers.
“After watching the Confederations Cup, I knew that we (Nigeria) won’t do well at the World Cup in Brazil next year” he submitted during a lengthy telephone chat with Saturday Sunsports.
According to him, the Super Eagles back line, as presently constituted is disadvantaged in size and height and, therefore, lacks the fear factor to scare dare-devil strikers.
“Football is a physical game and I have not seen that physical approach in our football” the former Benue State sports numero uno went on.
“We need huge defenders in the Nigerian defence. I like defenders like Sergio Ramos, David Luiz, Pepe and Gerard Pique. They are called a gang. When you’re a striker and you come against such defenders, you know what to expect.
“We have a lot of body checks in modern football. If a game gets physical, our players would have no chance because they are disadvantaged both in size and height. We saw what happened in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup. The Brazilian players were physically stronger than Spain counterparts and that was why they were able muscle Spain and their tiki-taka style of play.
“My idea of the type of players we should have in our defence is Danny Shittu. Look at Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi, Uche Okechukwu and their likes; when they were playing, you could only beat them with brain work, physically you stood no chance against them.
“The defenders we have at the moment look soft and fragile. A striker like Fernando Torress is not only skillful but physical. We all saw what he did to our defence at the Confederations Cup in Brazil.
“A defender is a soldier at war. A soldier is trained to fight and defend, so he has no time to laugh. Rigobert Song of Cameroon was rugged and mad whenever he came against strikers. When Lionel Messi, Torress or Hulk of Brazil – that looks like “Kill-we Nwachukwu” of blessed memory- comes against our defenders, who is going to stop them?
Kusah admitted that Nigeria has skillful strikers but feared that they stand little chance against massively-built and tough-looking defenders that they would likely face at the World Cup.
“Our strikers are skillful but stand little or no chance against massive and tough-looking defenders at the World Cup. For instance, we scored many goals against Tahiti that were happy for just coming to the FIFA Confederations Cup. Apart from Nigeria, which other country did they score at the tournament?” he queried.
Kusah also expressed reservations about goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama’s ability to hold his own in between the sticks when the chips are down.
“(Vincent) Enyeama is not my kind of goalkeeper because once he concedes a goal he gets angry and loses composure. Take Julio Cesar of Brazil for instance; despite the way he was rattled by Spain at the FIFA Confederations Cup, he looked unruffled at all times. My worry is that our coaches don’t learn anything after watching quality football on television” Kusah regretted.
Former Benue State Sports Commissioner, Hon. Mike Kusah, who gave the prediction, said the defence of the Nigerian team he saw at the recently concluded FIFA Confederations Cup does not have what it takes to stop world class strikers.
“After watching the Confederations Cup, I knew that we (Nigeria) won’t do well at the World Cup in Brazil next year” he submitted during a lengthy telephone chat with Saturday Sunsports.
According to him, the Super Eagles back line, as presently constituted is disadvantaged in size and height and, therefore, lacks the fear factor to scare dare-devil strikers.
“Football is a physical game and I have not seen that physical approach in our football” the former Benue State sports numero uno went on.
“We need huge defenders in the Nigerian defence. I like defenders like Sergio Ramos, David Luiz, Pepe and Gerard Pique. They are called a gang. When you’re a striker and you come against such defenders, you know what to expect.
“We have a lot of body checks in modern football. If a game gets physical, our players would have no chance because they are disadvantaged both in size and height. We saw what happened in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup. The Brazilian players were physically stronger than Spain counterparts and that was why they were able muscle Spain and their tiki-taka style of play.
“My idea of the type of players we should have in our defence is Danny Shittu. Look at Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi, Uche Okechukwu and their likes; when they were playing, you could only beat them with brain work, physically you stood no chance against them.
“The defenders we have at the moment look soft and fragile. A striker like Fernando Torress is not only skillful but physical. We all saw what he did to our defence at the Confederations Cup in Brazil.
“A defender is a soldier at war. A soldier is trained to fight and defend, so he has no time to laugh. Rigobert Song of Cameroon was rugged and mad whenever he came against strikers. When Lionel Messi, Torress or Hulk of Brazil – that looks like “Kill-we Nwachukwu” of blessed memory- comes against our defenders, who is going to stop them?
Kusah admitted that Nigeria has skillful strikers but feared that they stand little chance against massively-built and tough-looking defenders that they would likely face at the World Cup.
“Our strikers are skillful but stand little or no chance against massive and tough-looking defenders at the World Cup. For instance, we scored many goals against Tahiti that were happy for just coming to the FIFA Confederations Cup. Apart from Nigeria, which other country did they score at the tournament?” he queried.
Kusah also expressed reservations about goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama’s ability to hold his own in between the sticks when the chips are down.
“(Vincent) Enyeama is not my kind of goalkeeper because once he concedes a goal he gets angry and loses composure. Take Julio Cesar of Brazil for instance; despite the way he was rattled by Spain at the FIFA Confederations Cup, he looked unruffled at all times. My worry is that our coaches don’t learn anything after watching quality football on television” Kusah regretted.
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