Keshi Learnt invaluable lessons, He Pays Vincente Del Bosque



Vicente Del Bosque Gonzalez.

Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, has revealed that he learnt invaluable lessons from current Spain coach, Vicente Del Bosque Gonzalez.

The 62-year-old Spanish trainer has been in charge of the Spain squad since July 15, 2008 and has led La Roja to successes at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as well as the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. He is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of the game having previously led Real Madrid to La Liga titles in the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons.

Further successes with Real at the Super Copa de Espana (2001), Copa Iberoamericana (1994), UEFA Super Cup (2002), Intercontinental Cup (2002) and two UEFA Champions League titles (2000 and 2002) stamped his position as one of the true greats of coaching.

Keshi has now revealed that his alliance with the experienced trainer has rubbed off positively on his development as a coach. “I had serious discussions with Del Bosque in Brazil during the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and we shared ideas. He told me he was impressed with my work and asked that I continue in the same path,” Keshi told supersport.com yesterday.

Nigeria suffered a 0-3 beating in the hands of Spain at the tournament but del Bosque picked positives from the performance of the Super Eagles. “The Spanish coach said he saw great talent in my team and only asked that little changes be made in certain areas. “I also met the Uruguayan coach (Oscar Tabarez) in Brazil but we really couldn’t share so many ideas because of the language barrier,” he said.

Keshi has recorded great successes with Nigeria since he replaced Samson Siasia in 2011. He led the Super Eagles to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Cup in South Africa and recently guided the team to a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil. Nigeria could meet Spain in the group stages of the 2014 World Cup with both nations already through to the finals. The draws for the competition will hold on December 6 in Costa do Sauipe, in the Brazilian state of Bahia.