Eagles, Harambee ready to rumble after all the talking

Too much talking developed after it became concrete Kenya’s Harambee Stars will play newly crowned African Champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The Kenyans did most of the babbling perhaps to shore up their confidence.

Here are some of the the submissions.

“Nigeria may be African champions but that will not count.  It is always 11 players facing each other on both sides when two teams get onto the field of play,” said Kenya striker Victor Wanyama

“We will go out and play against them like we had always planned to,” he further said.

His opposite number Brown Ideye said: “The Eagles will take all points on Saturday. This is not to say the Kenyans are push overs.

“As it is now, we don’t know their plans so also they do not know our plans. I know they would be afraid of us as African champions, we might panic a little because we don’t know what they are planning.”

But this afternoon at the U.J Esuene Stadium in Calabar, there will be no talking, it will be just football. And 90 minutes of it will determined whose talking has been cheap.

The Eagles will be out to reaffirm their newly acquired status as the best team in Africa after many years of suffering indignity and certainly all pressure will be on them to prove that their fine run of victories beginning from when they hammered Liberia 5-1 to qualify for the 2013 Nations Cup was not a fluke.

Perhaps Nigeria fans will be expecting such a flat Too much talking developed after it became concrete Kenya’s Harambee Stars will play newly crowned  African Champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The Kenyans did most of the babbling perhaps to shore up their confidence.

Here are some of the the submissions.

“Nigeria may be African champions but that will not count.  It is always 11 players facing each other on both sides when two teams get onto the field of play,” said Kenya striker Victor Wanyama

“We will go out and play against them like we had always planned to,” he further said.

His opposite number Brown Ideye said: “The Eagles will take all points on Saturday. This is not to say the Kenyans are push overs

“As it is now, we don’t know their plans so also they do not know our plans. I know they would be afraid of us as African champions, we might panic a little because we don’t know what they are planning.”

But this afternoon at the U.J Esuene Stadium in Calabar, there will be no talking, it will be just football. And 90 minutes of it will determined whose talking has been cheap.

The Eagles will be out to reaffirm their newly acquired status as the best team in Africa after many years of suffering indignity and certainly all pressure will be on them to prove that their fine run of victories beginning from when they hammered Liberia 5-1 to qualify for the 2013 Nations Cup was not a fluke. Perhaps Nigeria fans will be expecting such a flattering scoreline in the encounter today.

However, the Eagles’ coach Stephen Keshi has remained modest as the popular saying, “there are no minnows anymore in African football” is coming to the fore.

“If past results really count then we wouldn’t even be playing Kenya. Remember they have a new coach and every coach comes with a different approach, mentality, team ethics and style of play. So we have respect for them and we will play this game with our best players,” Keshi said

The last clash between both teams was a friendly game in Abuja in March 2011 and the Super Eagles triumphed 3-0.

The last competitive game between the two sides ended 3-2 in Nigeria’s favour in a World Cup qualifying game in Nairobi in 2009.

Only four Super Eagles’ players from that team of 2009 are in line for selection in this weekend’s clash. They are John Obi Mikel, Vincent Enyeama, Elderson Echiejile and Obafemi Martins, who scored twice in that game.

One of Kenya’s goalscorers in that World Cup qualifying in Nairobi in 2009, Dennis Oliech, will captain Adel Amrouche’s men. Others in that team available are Arnold Origi, Peter Opiyo, George Owino, Mulinge Ndeto and Victor Wanyama.