The side coached by legendary Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof were just moments away from progressing to the quarterfinals of the 1994 World Cup before two late goals from Roberto Baggio sealed a 2-1 win for Italy who progressed to the last eight to face Spain instead.
Keshi has now taken the time to relive the memories of Nigeria’s debut at the World Cup when the team received widespread acclaim for their exciting and expansive brand of football.
He identified Nigeria’s opening group game against Bulgaria at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl on 21 June as his best memory from that World Cup.
“Against Bulgaria, we were awesome. The team was special and that’s why Nigerians are crying because we may never see a team like that again. That team was together for like six years,” Keshi said on the Fifa World Cup moments programme on Fifa TV.
The “Big Boss’ revealed that the reasons behind the team’s breathtaking displays back then was the insistence of the players to always ‘have fun’ while also keeping their eyes firmly trained on the prize.
“The great thing about that team was that when we played, we had fun. The purpose of that game - to win - was a priority but we also had fun while playing.
“When the late Rashidi Yekini scored the first goal (in the 21st minute), we were out of this world. Bulgaria had great players like (Hristo) Stoichkov but we managed to win 3-0.
“That was a great moment for me at that World Cup,” he said.
Nigeria will compete in Group F of the 2014 Fifa World Cup alongside Argentina, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
No comments:
Post a Comment