Unknown to soccer loving Nigerians, Coach Stephen Keshi was warned to ensure that the Super Eagles did not concede a last minute goal in their AFCON Group C match against Burkina Faso yesterday.
The Nigerian team, that scored a first half goal through Emmanuel Emenike were close to winning their opening match at South Africa 2013 Nations Cup, but lost focus and allowed the Burkinabes equalised barely 10 seconds to the end of the match at Mbombela Stadium.
Just as millions of soccer pundits have critisised the Eagles’ approach to the match, Keshi’s spiritual confidant, Prophet TB Joshua said he spoke to the coach to tighten up his team’s rear, especially in the second half.
The leader of Synagogue, Church of All Nations, who said the Eagles also disappointed him as a strong fan said: I called and warned Keshi to watch out for that dangerous move by the Burkina Faso strikers”.
And due to the fact that many people may not belief in his prediction, TB Joshua supported his claims by making a recorded copy of his conversation with Keshi available to P.M.NEWS.
In the conversation, Keshi urged the prophet to pray for his team, saying they did not want to concede any to against Burkina Faso.
In his response, Joshua, who advised Keshi to call him before the second half, stated: “You have to be careful and pray so that what the tragedy I saw does not happen to the Eagles. The horses of Burkina Faso do not get tired, and your defenders must not lose focus in the second half…”.
The Eagles, who fell like packs of cards in the encounter, also received hard knocks from former Nigerian internationals, Sunday Oliseh, Jonathan Akpoborie, Tijani Babangida and Rwanda Coach, Milutin Sredojevic.
Oliseh, a former skipper of the team, said yesterday’s draw was like a loss to the Eagles, “because they may regret the result as the competition progresses.”
Akpoborie, who earlier said the team cannot go far at the AFCON, castigated the strikers for not utilising their chances.
Babangida also lambasted the Keshi-led squad, saying they would blame themselves if the draw edge them out of the competition.
Rwanda coach, Sredojevic said he was disappointed in the Nigerian team, saying they lacked a winning mentality, concluding that Keshi is technically inept.
Meanwhile, Keshi has heaped praises on his players for the result against Burkina Faso. The ‘Big Boss’ declared that he is proud of his players despite their failure to hold on to their slender lead, which would have seen Nigeria assume top spot in the group.
“We are not going to let anything bring us down, trust me. I am very proud of the boys”.
[PM News]
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