Stephen Keshi in humiliating Ghana U-turn

Published on: 03 January 2012

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has been forced into making an embarrassing u-turn on the chances of Ghana at the Nations Cup after a barrage of criticism on his assessment.

The Super Eagles coach, who was snubbed when applied for the Ghana last year, performed the humiliating change of mind - now saying Black Stars are in the hunt for the title.

Keshi based his earlier prediction on the calibre of players to be paraded by Senegal and Ivory Coast insisting Ghana are not favourites because they don't have quality players.

Last month he said: “I don’t think Ghana, Guinea or the two hosts will win the cup. A lot of people may be surprised that I mentioned Ghana among those who would not win the cup,” Keshi said.

“I did so because the Ghanaian squad as presently composed do not have the quality of a champion like what the Ivorians and Senegalese boast."

But after Black Stars' assistant coach, Kwesi Appiah and many others slated the Super Eagles' manager Keshi says he was misquoted.

“I was asked to name my favourite teams to win the Nations Cup and I said on paper, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal have the strongest teams, but tournaments like these are full of surprises," Keshi told SuperSport.

"Maybe, because I did not list Ghana and the question was asked on Ghana soil, the journalist decided to say I have written Ghana off.

"How can I write off a team that made it to the quarterfinals of the last World Cup?” the Nigerian coach queried.

The former Nigerian captain also advised the Ghanaian team to concentrate on their pre-Africa Cup of Nations instead of wasting ample time reacting to what they perceive as an attack on the Black Stars.

“Every team that has qualified is capable of winning the championship. But you will agree with me that some teams are rated higher than others even by Fifa, that is what I simply said,” Keshi said.

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations will kick off in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon on January 21 and run through till February 2.

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