Stephen Keshi: My Goal Was to Put Smile On Nigerians

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has commented on the Eagles 4-1 hammering of Mali in the semi -finals of the African Nations Cup on Wednesday in Durban.

In naming his squad for the tournament, Keshi said he left out some of the senior players because he wanted team players.

''Nigerians have waited a long time for this moment; Nigerians have missed out a great deal in the last few years, my goal was to put smile on Nigerians. We knew that Mali will give us a tough time, but we knew that they are a little bit slow and we took advantage of that.

''There were lots of problems back home when I left out some of the senior players in the team but I had my own reasons, I know that some people did not understand. We wanted team players – the mentality – the players who can work for the team. There is a lot of talent and potential in this team – we still have a long way,'' Keshi told afcon2013online.com.

Maccabi Tel Aviv custodian Vincent Enyeama, who is skippering the side after Joseph Yobo's relegation to the bench, is delighted with the victory.

''We are happy, we want to thank God for this victory. Everyone in our team is a captain, we motivate ourselves, we all know what we have to do on the field.  I’m not the captain of Nigeria – I’m just standing in for the captain (Joseph Yobo),'' he said.