Keshi made big mistake over Uche .

Cairo ’91 All Africa Games bronze
medallist Andrew Aikhuomogbe has
claimed that Nigeria coach Stephen
Keshi made a “big mistake” by
overlooking Spain-based Ikechukwu
Uche in the early stages of the 2015
Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Villarreal forward fell out of favour
with Keshi after the final of the 2013
Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa,
and the Super Eagles manager ignored
the 30-year-old during the 2014 World
Cup qualifiers.
And Keshi stuck to his guns to omit the
player from his Brazil 2014 World Cup
squad, despite the pressure from the
media and fans for Uche to be
selected for the tournament.
However, Uche, who has banged in
four goals in 10 appearances for
Villarreal in La Liga in the season,
ended his international exile in style
by scoring a goal (in Nigeria’s 2-0
defeat of Congo in Pointe Noire on
November 15) the last two games of
the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Cup
of Nations Group A qualifiers.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the
championship after South Africa and
Congo grabbed the two automatic
qualification spots in the group.
Aikhuomogbe, who laments the Eagles
will not be in Equatorial Guinea next
month to defend their title, insists
Keshi’s decision to leave Uche out of
his plans for the qualifiers cost the
country dearly.
The former Eagles goalkeeper
maintains the African champions
would have sealed their place in the
January 17-February 8 tournament if
Keshi had invited “other experienced
players”.
“I feel very bad about the development
(Nigeria’s failure to qualify for
Equatorial Guinea 2015),” the 1989
FIFA Under-17 World Cup silver
medallist told our correspondent
online during the week.
“I’m not blaming Keshi for our failure
to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Maybe that’s how God wants it.”
The former Shooting Stars custodian,
who is currently based in Egypt ,
added, “Sometimes Keshi invited the
right players for the qualifiers, and
sometimes he didn’t.
“Uche is one player who could have
helped the team qualify for the
tournament if he had played in the
qualifiers from the beginning.”
The Cairo-based players’ manager
heaped praise on Chelsea midfielder
Mikel Obi and Fenerbhace forward
Emmanuel Emenike for their
performances during the qualifiers.
He said the players deserve credit, not
condemnation, despite not being able
to fire the country to Equatorial
Guinea.
“We should learn from our mistakes
and move on,” Aikhuomogbe added.