By John Egbokhan
1984 Nations Cup silver medal winner, Paul Okoku has absolved Coach Stephen Keshi of any blame in Nigeria’s poor performance at the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The Super Eagles, who are the African champions, were knocked out in the first round by Spain on Sunday.

Paul Okoku

The Spanish side, who are the current world champions and two-time European champions, defeated the Eagles 3-0. Nigeria, who defeated Tahiti 6-1 in their first match, also lost 2-1 to Uruguay to exit the tournament with three points from a possible nine.

The ouster from the tournament has attracted a wide range of criticisms from watchers of the game, most of whom have called for an overhauling of the technical crew.

Kojo Williams, a former chairman of the Nigeria Football Association,  said that the only way the Eagles can  do well at the global stage was for the NFA to draft in some technically sound foreign coaches to work with Keshi., with the latter remaining the manager and leader of the team

But this view has been countered by Okoku, who said that Keshi was on the right track to returning the Super Eagles on the path of glory.

Speaking to Sports Vanguard from his base in the United States of America, Okoku, a former Flying Eagles Vice-Captain, said that since Keshi was appointed the coach of the Super Eagles in November  2011, that he was yet to get the respect that he deserved from  Nigerians.

Wondering aloud why Nigerians cannot appreciate their own, Okoku, who is a Financial Analyst with British Petroleum in USA, said that what happened at the Confederations Cup was not the fault of Keshi.

“Keshi has in the short time that he has been coach of the Super Eagles, been able to transform the team from mere  contenders to continental champions. We have seen the introduction of some new and exciting local players, who are gradually coming of age.

It is not going to be automatic to get to the peak. It takes time and from what is on ground, we are going forward.

“We lost to Spain, who are without any doubt, the best team in the world. Spain defeated Italy 4-0 in the final of the last European Championships. They also made Uruguay look ordinary when both teams met at the ongoing Confederations Cup. They are the best and any team losing to them should not be ashamed but take positives out of the loss.

“It is good to add to we played without our very strikers. Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses are two key players in the team and both were missing. Onazi, another good midfielder, was also missing.

These players made serious impact at the last Nations Cup, which we won. It was always going to be  difficult for us to beat Spain and Uruguay without these players”, added Okoku.

Continuing, Okoku said that “we do not need another foreign coach. Keshi is doing a good work, should be supported and we need to pray for our players. Injuries can setback a team’s progress at a competition.

That was what happened to us at the Confederations Cup. We did not lose because of the technical inadequacies of Keshi”.