Sports
ACL: Enyimba Won’t Get Carried Away – Coach
Enyimba International’s Head coach, Usman Abd’Allah does not seem to have been carried away by the team’s progression to the CAF Champions League first round.
The tactician warned that his team is still a long way from hitting the kind of form that saw them win the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) last season.
Enyimba cruised into the play-off stage of the CAF Champions League after defeating Rahimo of Burkina Faso 5-1 on aggregate at Aba over the weekend but Abd’Allah is refusing to rest on his laurels, writes NPFL.ng.
“I am very relieved because you’ve seen the boys were very prepared having worked very hard to make the win seem easy,” Abd’Allah told newsmen.
“I think we should continue this work that we’ve been doing because we can see the profit in it. So the boys have to be super, super fit; that is the only way we can execute our own plans”, he said.
With a win over Rahimo, the Nigerian giants have set up another tough clash with Al-Hilal of Sudan and Abd’Allah knows that Enyimba will have to be at its best to beat their opponents.
“I think we still have work to do, we still have a lot. We can’t be perfect. Every time we have to work. Hilal are a very good side but not unbeatable. If we are at our best, we will scale through.
“Of course playing at home in the 1st leg puts pressure on us to do well from the start but that is the beauty of the game. I am confident we can handle that,” he added.
Enyimba will host Al-Hilal at the Enyimba Stadium in the weekend of September 13-15 before travelling to Sudan two weeks later for the return leg. The winner of the tie qualifies for the group stages.
Vice president of the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), Chief Solomon Ogba, foremost Sports Marketer and founder of Okpekpe Road Race, Mike Itemuagbor and top Sports Journalist and Media Strategist, Mitchel Obi have lent their voices in support of the Niger Delta Sports Festival (NDSF).
The personalities with backgrounds in sports administration, marketing and media spoke separately in commendation of the festival, an initiative of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with Dunamis Icon as consultants.
“This is a positive addition to the evolving sports business ecosystem because it is not just a springboard for identifying talents, it also offers a platform to truly hone the skills of those already discovered”, remarked Obi, who served as Special Advisor to a former Sports Minister, late Anthony Ikhazabor.
He said the festival will be a flagship event in the region that would trigger interest in sports among the youths and people of the region.
Edo State-born Itemuagbor commended the NDDC for the decision to add sports in the list of their intervention projects in the region, adding that: “This speaks directly to the problem of youth restiveness which is of great concern to our people.”
Raphael Onyedika has now emerged as a major doubt for the Super Eagles’ must-win 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe later this month.
The midfielder was forced out early from last week’s league game against Standard Liege.
He has not recovered from the injury and so will miss today’s league match against Gent and may also miss a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash against Aston Villa yesterday.
The Super Eagles take on Rwanda in Kigali on March 21, before they face Zimbabwe in Uyo four days later in crucial World Cup qualifiers.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Al-Khalood defender, William Troost-Ekong, has shared his experience on the difficulties of winning the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) while describing it a must win trophy.
The former Watford FC defender has competed in the tournament three times but has yet to lift the trophy.
“I’ve been there three times now, bronze medal, silver medal, but I haven’t had the chance to win it. That remains my ultimate goal,” he told Tidesports source.
“It means so much to me and all the kids growing up in Africa and Nigeria.”
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