Keshi, Yobo lament Rwanda draw

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, as well as team captain, Joseph Yobo have both expressed disappointment at Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with the Amavubis of Rwanda in an African Cup of Nations qualifying match.

Coach Keshi said he was not totally satisfied with the performance of his players but was happy that he came away with a point in the encounter. “We did not come here for a draw but that is what we got, we have made some observations after the match and we will work on them as we prepare for subsequent games. I will not give excuses but I must say we did not have enough time with the foreign-based players like we did in four weeks with the home lads. I will simply say congratulations to Rwanda, but we’ll be better next time around”.

On his part the Eagles skipper Joseph Yobo who was making a record 87th appearance for Nigeria said he was disappointed but not shocked at the performance of the Rwandans as there are no longer small teams in world football. “We came away with a goalless draw, everybody expected us to win but that is football” he said. Tell our fans that they will get a better result next time”.

Joy in Kigali

Meanwhile the Rwanda national team handler, Serbian Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredrojevic was full of joy and excitement after his wards held the Super Eagles of Nigeria to a goalless draw at the Stade Regionale in Kigali.

The coach, who was full of respect for the Nigerian national side, said after the game that he still holds Nigeria in high esteem but was slightly surprised that the array of stars paraded by Nigeria could not get the three points at stake from his team.

Media Officer for the Eagles, Ben Alaiya, told Premium Times that Rwandan fans and journalists were also full of praises for their team, with one of them describing the Nigerian side as a sleeping giant when he poked a question at Eagles boss, Stephen Keshi. 

The Nigerian handler in his response promised to wake his giants from sleeping in subsequent games.

Reports also indicated that fans in Kigali also took over major streets of the city after the encounter, with most of the describing the performance of their national team as not only outstanding but well deserved going by the chances that both sides missed in the encounter.