Head coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi has said that his game plan against Bafana Bafana of South Africa during Wednesday's Mandela Challenge worked out well to his satisfaction.
An elated Keshi, while speaking in a post-match interview after the Eagles' 2-0 victory at
the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, said the game served as a good build-up to the World Cup
qualifier against Malawi next month.
"I knew they (Bafana Bafana) will be waiting for Victor Moses, Ahmed Musa in the first half
and that was why I decided to put them on the bench so that when they come in the second
half, they will look fresh. Again, I wanted to give other players the opportunities to play
like Shola Ameobi so that they can feel the African football too and I'm happy they did well too. I'm proud of the kids. They gave out everything in the second half. This is just to keep
us in shape and remind us of what is going to happen in the game against Malawi," Keshi said
adding that "I am honoured to be here for Madiba (Dr Nelson Mandela), who has done a lot for
Africa as a whole and I'm happy that the South Africans are taking this annual event
seriously".
Meanwhile, Chelsea star, Victor Moses who came on to replace Sunday Mba at the restart of the
match said winning the friendly was a huge boost for him and his teammates.
"We knew it was a friendly game but we came here to win the game. We are delighted at what we
acheived today winning the Mandela Challenge.
"Well, in the first half, I'm sure we did very well but only that We didn't take our chances but this changed in the second half, we are delighted overall," Moses, who won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Nigeria said.
Super substitute, Uche Nwofor, who came on to replace Newcastle's Shola Ameobi also in the
second half was the hero of the night with a brace in the 49th and 68th minute.
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