Super Eagles new coach Stephen Keshi was unveiled Thursday in Abuja by the Nigeria Football Federation but the ceremony turned emotional as former coach Samson Siasia made a surprise appearance at the venue to embrace the new coach and present him with a Nigeria jersey.Keshi and the NFF President, Aminu Maigari, signed the contract papers which legally confirmed the ex-international as the Eagles coach with a mandate to qualify the country for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.The former Togo coach is also to qualify Nigeria for the Brazil 2014 World Cup and lead the team to the quarter-final stage.Immediately after the paperwork, Siasia, who was sacked by the NFF for failing to lead Nigeria to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, entered the media centre of the National Stadium, Abujavenue of the ceremonyto meet his former teammate.His appearance raised a few eyebrows, while others simply applauded as he walked up to Keshi on the podium and embraced him in an emotional atmosphere.And in a dramatic manner, Siasia presented a green Super Eagles jersey to Keshi with the number four inscribed on it.It would be recalled that Keshi wore the jersey number during his reign in the national team which spanned over a decade. Siasias gesture drew more applause from those gathered at the venue.Meanwhile, Keshi did not travel to Benin with the Eagles on Thursday as he stayed back in Abuja to complete the legal work. The official release from the NFF just before the signing-on ceremony explained why the coach had to stay back.It reads, The Nigeria coach (Keshi) will stay behind in Abuja for his contract signing ceremony with the NFF on Thursday. There is only one scheduled daily flight from Abuja to Benin, and the unveiling of the coach, planned to start at 12 noon and last 90 minutes, is not expected to finish on time for him to make that flight. The rest of the squad will leave without the coach.There was no training in Benin on Thursday, but regular session is expected to resume on Friday.Keshi on Thursday ruled out Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi and Lokomotiv Moscow striker Obinna Nsofor from the friendlies against Botswana and Zambia because of injury.Both players are out of the games, Keshi said.Mikel, who has been nursing a back problem, trained apart from the group Wednesday. He trained on grass while the rest of the squad trained on the artificial pitch. Nsofor did not train at all and had an ice pack around his left knee. Team officials said there will not be late replacements for the players unlike the case of West Bromwich striker Osaze Odemwingie who was replaced by Nigeria Premier League leading scorer Jude Aneke of Kaduna United. There was also no replacement for Wigan Athletics Victor Moses who pleaded to be left out this time.The Botswana match in Benin will kick off at 5pm.
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