Keshi Flies With
Togo
Ademola Olajire
June
30, 2004 It's ironic that while the Eagles
were being grounded in Luanda, a member of the triumvirate that
steered the team's sinking Korea/Japan ship safely to shore, Stephen
Keshi was enjoying a rare performance by his new team, Togo, who
slashed Senegal's Terranga Lions 3-1 in a group One match in Lome.
AS Monaco's Sheyi Adebayor started the victory song early, and the
visitors even fluffed a penalty.
After a 1-0 loss in Zambia, the win comes
at the right time for Keshi, in his second competitive match in
charge, and stands the Hawks in good stead for the campaign. A visit
to Liberia next week (3-0 losers to Congo's Red Devils) could
produce a favourable result, and Togo could begin dreaming of a
place in the Nations Cup finals, if not the World Cup!
Next weekend's matches would even be more
keenly contested by the teams, being the last in the 'first rush',
before the two-month break till early September, and with the
knowledge that whichever team is at the top of a particular group
has the psychological boost to attack the campaign when it resumes.
Nigeria host the Desert Foxes, who would
rue missed opportunity after an own goal denied them the three
points in Zimbabwe. But the Eagles would be comforted that on the
same day, 11 years ago, they hit the Foxes 4-1 in a similar World
Cup qualifier at the National Stadium, Lagos.
Leaders, Angola will fly to Gabon with high hopes
of earning the three points, as Coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves
insists there would be no slip-ups in the race all the way to
October next year. Zimbabwe travel to Rwanda, who also have three
points after beating Gabon last week.
Keshi's Togo can get a result against dispirited
Liberia in Monrovia, and Mali have to step up two gears to stand the
fireworks of Congo's Red Devils in Brazzaville.
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