The Chief Coach of the Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has said that his mentor and former Nigerian coach Clemense Westerhof who qualified Nigeria for its first World Cup is not a fantastic coach, but a disciplinarian and a good motivator off and on the pitch.
He said this at Tom Tom Editors Roundtable.
The Dutchman who was assisted by Jo Bonfere, who won Nigeria its first Olympic Gold Medal was the Eagles chief tactician for five years, after succeeding, Manfred Hoener in 1989.
Keshi was the captain of the team that dazzled the world, with an exciting brand of entertaining football that shot Nigeria to world football limelight.
Though Nigeria crashed in the second round to Italy, the 1994 squad tinkered by Westerhof remains the best Eagles team but speaking yesterday in Lagos, Keshi said that what stood Westerhof out from the coaching pack was his ability to motivate his players and not his coaching abilities.
While praising Westerhof for his top-notch managerial skills, the former Togo and Mali coach said that it was the former who first told him that he was going to succeed as a coach.
“Westerhof is someone who even if I have a broken leg, I will still want to play for. He was the first person who told me that I was going to be a good coach. I started learning the rudiments from him . Whatever I saw in Westerhof I did but he is not a fantastic coach.
But he can talk you to play like Pele. He is a motivator. He is the best in terms of instilling discipline in his players, which is crucial in getting results on the pitch”, Keshi.