Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi has received a thumbs down from the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF president, Aminu Maigari for presenting a ‘weak’ team at the FIFA Confederation Cup, which ends tomorrow in Brazil.

Nigeria made an early exit after losing to Uruguay and Spain. Maigari who was speaking during a chat on Africa Soccer show on Supersports stated that Keshi missed the point when he opted to select relatively inexperienced players even as other countries brought their best players.

Maigari and Keshi

“The Confederations Cup is a big tournament and that’s why the other teams brought their best players.

Spain brought their best players, but we did not. Why would you bring a local player to play Spain at such a big stage? This is unacceptable. We have experienced players that were not selected and this is where we have to step in.

‘The coach doesn’t have the sole responsibility on squad selection. We all have to contribute. This team belongs to 165 million people. Selections should affect all these people so we cannot continue to let this happen because we need to compete well with others,” Maigari said.

However, Keshi has since taken responsibility for the poor outing in Brazil.

“I’m the coach and I can honestly listen to constructive ideas on how we can improve as a team. But no-one has come to tell me who to pick or not to select. If the team fails the coach is responsible.

“As the coach, it’s my decision and responsibility. For now, the local players have earned the rights to be in the team.”