Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi has been speaking about his plans to rule Africa with the Eagles. In this interview with BAMIDELE BOLUWAJI, he speaks on his preparation for the Nations Cup qualifier against Rwanda in Kigali and much more...

Zambia won the 2012 African Cup of Nations on Sunday night with many players plying their trade in African continent. Do you think you can lead the Home Eagles to achieve the same feat?

Why not? We can do it but I need at least five years to achieve this. Zambia was able to win the Nations Cup because they started the build -up five years ago and today, the team has really matured. They understand each other very well and they play as a team. So, if I have solid five years to prepare our team, we will definitely do more than they did. It is a matter of having a quality programme on ground and working hard to implement it.  So if we are given such opportunity, these home-based players are ready to go.

How would you rate the standard of the Nations Cup?

It's very high and I must congratulate Zambia for winning the trophy. It was a tough final which later turned out in favour of Zambia.

What did you gain from the pundit job you did for a South African Satellite TV station during the Nations Cup?

I gained quite a lot and very soon, you people will see it manifesting in our team.

How would you describe the experience since you resumed camping for the Liberia game?

It has been wonderful and we are all doing our best to make sure that we achieve our set goals. The players are responding well to training and from what we have seen so far, I can tell you that there is an improvement in the team. But we still have a lot to do to make sure that we have a solid team.

You will be playing Liberia on Wednesday, what are you looking forward to in that game?

Well, we are looking forward to a good game, a game that will help us to prepare well for the Rwanda match which of course is our priority for now. I have told the players that they need to do their best and they must be very careful. We are not going to take the match as a do or die affair but we are going to do our best to make sure that Nigeria as a country is not disgraced.

What importance are you attaching to the Liberia match?

There is no special importance attached to the game, we all know that it is a friendly game which we are using as preparation for another important game. When we played Angola and the match ended in a draw, we were happy not because of the result but because we had a team that was not afraid of the Angolans who were going to take part in the African Cup of Nations. The result definitely boosted their confidence and that is the same thing we are looking up to in the Liberia game. We want the match to bring out the best in them and it will also help us to make some corrections in terms of their technical approach and tactical awareness to the game.

Are you saying that you are not taking the match as a must win for the Super Eagles?

I have told you that it is not going to be a do or die game. We wish to win every game we play but we will not kill ourselves because of a friendly game. We will rather use it to prepare for a more competitive game which Nigerians will be happy to see us winning.

Now, you have the qualifier against Rwanda after Liberia game, how are you preparing for the game and what are you looking forward to in Kigali?

The preparation has started and part of it is the game against Liberia. After the game, the players will return to camp immediately to continue preparation for the Rwanda match. Like I said, it is our priority for now and we are giving it all the attention it deserves. We know how important the game is and we are going to do our best.

As a coach, what have you been able to find out about Rwanda as tip that could help you to win the game in Kigali?

So far, I have watched two tapes of the matches they played recently and I have been able to discover some technical tips that will help us to have a favourable game in Kigali. We are still going to watch the tapes all over again and the players will also watch it so that they will know what to expect. But our mission is to go there and win the game.

To what extent do you think the video tapes can help you to achieve positive result?

We are not relying solely on the tapes, but it will help us to know some technical facts about the team.
This is your first game in the 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, what are you doing to ensure that you don’t make the same mistake the past coaches made during the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers?

When a mistake is made, the wise people will learn from it and what I am saying in essence is that we have learnt from the previous mistakes and we are going to do our best to make sure that such mistake did not repeat itself. It is a must for us to win all our games and the Rwanda match is one of them. We are serious about it and we are going to make sure that we pick the three points at stake.

You said your team will be dominated by home based players, what number of foreign based players are you looking at for the Rwanda clash?

Yes, I can still repeat that I want to build a strong home-based team that will be good enough to win laurels for the country. We have started already and that is why we are using them to play all our friendly games and very soon, we will get to that point where we will all be happy to watch them. I cannot say precisely for now the number of foreign based players that will make the trip to Kigali, but it is not going to be business as usual. We need a small number of foreign based players and with that, the home based stars can have that confidence that they are not just being used as training materials as it used to be. We have a programme on ground to develop the home-based players and we are going to follow it strictly.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Osaze Odemwingie were in superb forms for their clubs at the weekend, are we likely to see their names on your list?

I do not know yet but the truth is that we need players that are fit and also ready to show the kind of commitment we need to qualify for both the Nations Cup in 2013 and the 2014 World Cup.

But are you not impressed with the performances of these players?

I am really impressed as a coach and I am sure that you journalists and other sports loving Nigerians will be happy to see these players doing well. We need to encourage them but scoring last weekend was not all we need to invite any player to the national team. If they meet all the requirements needed, why not? We need the best for Nigeria.

But departing a day before the Liberia game, don't you think it will affect the players' fitness?

No, this is a friendly game, the players have been in camp for more than a month now and they know what to do.