By Paul Bassey
The story of Stephen Keshi and the Super Eagles can be better told next month. EARLY NEXT MONTH.

It is the story of non qualification for the Nations Cup and the sacking of Samson Siasia. It is the story of the over reliance on foreign based stars for our national teams and their dwindling fortunes in recent times.

The employment of Stephen Keshi was therefore to address these anomalies, including the building of a strong domestic squad that will bridge and attempt to address the problems caused by the foreign armada.

So far, there is a consensus that the Keshi experiment that has received the full backing of the Nigerian Football Federation is worth our while. This was evidenced by the showing put up against the Indomitable Pharaohs of Egypt in Dubai.

Before then, we had a Nations Cup qualifier against Rwanda and Coach Keshi went for the expected mix, inviting some of the foreign based players. Either by omission or commission, he decided to give more starting places to the foreign players and the result was not a favourable one.

While a lot of Nigerians called for the head of the foreign based stars, some called for caution, arguing and rightly too that the boys from Europe did not benefit the proper orientation going into that match. That they did not have enough time to train as a team with their locally based colleagues and that even jet lag militated against them.

Since then, the Keshi team has evolved ( The Egypt friendly ) prompting a lot of people to also suggest that we may not even need the foreign based any more, and that if we do, not in an appreciable number.

I belong to the latter, that we still need some of our players plying their wares abroad, but only quality please.

How can we invite players for the Super Eagles today without a Victor Moses in the line up? Can we afford to call the buff of Vincent Enyeama, Oduamadi , Uche brothers and Ahmed Musa?

My argument is simple, that we need a good mix and now that the European leagues are ending ( Some have ended ) this is the time to bring everyone we are interested in home and start working on them.

Next month we have two crucial world cup qualifiers and if for one reason or the other we could not include these players in the Peru trip, then we must look for a way to integrate them BEFORE the world cup matches that will be held FIRST WEEK IN JUNE.

It is for this same reason that I did write last week that now that we are busy searching for natural grass for our matches, has Keshi told us the percentage of foreign based players that will likely be in the starting line up? I say this because majority of our domestic players play on artificial turf and we may be arming the enemy if we provide them with a condusive playing surface. ( Natural grass )

Let me also repeat what I said here last week, that we should not politicize the choice of venue, lest it comes back to haunt us like Kano did. In choosing a venue we should look beyond invitations by the chief executives of the states.

In Abeokuta last Saturday, I showed Barrister Green ( Technical Committee Chairman of the NFF ) proof that FIFA has already designated match officials, venues and time for the matches. They are still waiting for Nigeria. Pray we do not choose a venue that does not meet the standards of CAF, not to talk of FIFA as rejection in the last minute could spell doom for us. Emotions should be jettisoned.

The secretary general of the NFF just back from a FIFA workshop in Cairo is in a better position to appreciate the dos and donts as regards match venue, from functional dressing rooms to water, security installations ( Two metre cordon as secondary crowd barrier outside the stadium ) etc.

The sooner we put this issue to rest, the better.

Adieu Goal King

I join hundreds of ball followers world wide in mourning the death of arguably Nigeria’s greatest footballer, using goals as a barometer to measure greatness.

Before his death, Rashidi Yekini disappeared from our radar giving room to speculations as to the problem with him. Nigerians waited and prayed as journalist failed to unravel the mystery surrounding his hermit like disposition.

Today, it has taken his mother to tell us what the problem of his son was. A sad story.

Thanks Yekini, we will forever cherish fond memories of your sojourn on the green fields of world football, advantage Nigeria.

Fare thee well.

See you next week.