Sunday, 24 November 2013

2014 World Cup: Give Super Eagles realistic target---Okocha

FORMER Super Eagles captain, Austin Okocha has said that Nigerians should not be deceived into believing that the reigning African champions can win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The former Bolton of England player in an interview with kickOffNigeria.com declared that the team instead needs a realistic target at Brazil mundial.
"We will all be happy to see them win the World Cup but we know that’s almost impossible at this moment. We don't have to set ourselves a target that is almost like mission impossible.
"So a realistic target should be to qualify from our group even though we don't know who will be there, then from there anything can happen when we get to the knockout stage," said the former Paris Saint Germain (PSG) of France player.
He however, acknowledged that the Stephen Keshi-led technical crew has transformed the Super Eagles earlier than expected.
"we were talking about rebuilding and we expected that it would take us many years to get here, but it is to the coaches credit and to the players' credit that they have delivered beyond expectation," Okocha said.
He noted that the players equally deserve kudos for the exploits recorded so far saying that "we have to give them credit. They battled their way to this point. Nobody really thought they would be in this position at this time".
The hero of three World Cup finals; USA '94, France '98 and Korea/Japan 2002 stated that individual brilliance is still missing in the Super Eagles unlike during his era when the team was blessed with players who can make things happen.
"Yes, I think so. If I may be honest, the midfielders that we have now play a bit more collectively. We don't really have that individual talent that can stand out, I mean an individual player when the going gets tough. But I think they are doing well as a team which is the most important thing because football is a team game," said Okocha who is a member of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF's technical committee.
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