Earlyface

The Super Eagles will be making their debut at the third edition of the 16-nation Championship of African Nations (CHAN) between January the 11 and February 1, 2014. It is a tournament designed specifically for players plying their trade in their domestic leagues.
Tunisia beat Angola 3-0 in the final of the last edition of the tournament in Sudan in February 2011. Unfortunately, the reigning champions failed to qualify for next year's edition in South Africa and will be unable to defend their title.
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has done his best to lower the nation's expectations on winning CHAN, as well he should. The Eagles are in the tough Group A comprising hosts South Africa, Mozambique and Mali.
Group B features Zimbabawe, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Morocco. Group C has Ghana, Congo, Libya and Ethiopia. To compete in Group D are DR Congo, Gabon, Burundi and Mauritania. This is probably the most open group in the tournament. Groups A and B are based in Cape Town, while Groups C and D are based in Manguang and Polokwane, respectively.
The Eagles are undoubtedly going to face stern challenges in South Africa. This is due to different factors.
The bulk of the squad that enabled qualification for CHAN have since moved to the European clubs. Once a player signs for a foreign club he becomes ineligible for CHAN.
Ironically, the scenario could still play itself out right up to the eve of the tournament as the winter transfer window opens on January 3. There is a distinct possibility that some players, who are key to Keshi's plans, may sign for foreign clubs before our opening match against Mali. An example of this is Kelechi Iheanacho, who left the Eagles camp in Abuja last week to sign for English Premier League club Manchester City.
This has left Keshi with another challenge, a relatively inexperienced squad with minimal time to prepare them for a major tournament.
The dysfunctionality of the Nigerian Premier League has also made Keshi's task harder. None of his players have kicked a ball in anger since the league ended in October due to the wrangling between the League Management Committee and the inappropriately named club owners. The league was initially slated to start in November but has been suspended till after CHAN. That means all our players will be going to South Africa lacking a competitive edge and match fitness.
Despite the challenges the squad is facing, Nigerians still remain expectant and relatively confident of a credible outing. As defending African champions, we stand a chance of creating history by becoming the first country to hold both continental titles simultaneously. Nevertheless, win or lose, I'm really looking forward to CHAN, to seeing our boys going up against the very best, Africa has to offer. It will also give us a viable indication of the strength of our league. Going forward, the bedrock of our national team should be the domestic league players.
Keshi has three matches and a maximum of six to see what his boys are capable of. It is my fervent belief that at least three players will emerge from CHAN to challenge in the regular Super Eagles for a first team spot and a seat on that plane to Brazil for the World Cup.
Two of the Eagles mainstays Mikel Obi of Chelsea and Liverpool's Victor Moses, find themselves on the fringes of their first teams. Mikel, through no fault of his, doesn't feature in Jose Mourinho's plans at present due to a glut of midfielders at his disposal. Moses' case is a little bit more worrisome. He seems to have suffered a drop in form for both club and country. Moses was virtually anonymous in both legs of our final World Cup qualifying tie against Ethiopia, although he did raise his game against Italy in the friendly at Craven Cottage, London.
Watching Moses come on as a substitute in the 85th minute, when Liverpool already had a 5-0 lead over hapless Spurs, made me wonder how far he has fallen in the pecking order at Liverpool. In a game two stalwarts of the team in Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge were out injured, teenage Raheem Sterling was preferred to Moses. That speaks volumes about Brendan Rodgers' faith (or lack of ) in Moses.