Super Eagles are struggling to make it to the next round of the 2013 AFCON games.
Super Eagle Coach, Stephen Keshi, said despite playing a draw with the Chipolopolo of Zambia, Super Eagles team gave a good account of themselves.
Keshi, who describe the team’s performance during the tension-soaked match as satisfactory, said the Zambians deserved a lot of respect as the African Champions in the competition.
“My goal was to get a three points. But, I’m happy with the score line. The Zambians are a team that I respect a lot. I’m satisfied with the outcome of the match,” the Super Eagles coach said.
The coach, however, said that the Super Eagles games have witnessed terrible officiating, with about five yellow cards already issued to members of the team in the two games they have played so far, including the match against Burkina Faso.
Expressing doubts about the penalty awarded to the Zambian team, Coach Keshi said it was inappropriate, pointing out that since the referee is the boss on the field, the team has to move ahead.
As regards Mikel Obi’s missed penalty, Keshi said no one is immune to missing penalty kicks, recalling that the same players had scored in similar occasions in the past.
“The last time we played in calabar, Mikel scored it. You don’t have a specialist in penalty kicks. Its either you lose or you score. It’s gone. All we need to do is to prepare ourselves for Ethiopia,” the coach said.
Super Eagles goalie, Vincent Enyeama, also said that the game was marred by poor officiating, pointing out that the penalty awarded the Zambians was a “weak call”.
“The penalty wasn’t fair. The officiating was poor and its one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in my life. We were given a red card at the last match. It’s not fair. I don’t know what’s going on, and we say we want to improve African football”, Enyeama lamented.
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