Leadership (Abuja)
Vincent Ekhoragbon
3 August 2008
More than ever before, there is every need for Nigeria's surviving flag bearer in this year's CAF Champions League, Enyimba FC of Aba, to respect their opponents at the group stage and play purposeful soccer if it must progress to quarter final stage.
Grouped with Coton Sports (Garoua) of Cameroon, Al Hilal Omdurman of Sudan and TP Mazembe Englebert in group 'B', the People's Elephant must know that the days of underdogs in African soccer are over and each one is a raring to make a statement especially against the presumed big teams.
Ahead of Enyimba International of Aba, home tie against Coton Sports of Cameroon today, there is need for focus and seriousness, having lost the first leg 2-3 to Al Hilal in Sudan, two weeks ago.
Both sides would be approaching the make or mar match with all determination to secure the maximum three points at stake, as Enyimba needs to keep hope of progressing alive and Coton has vowed not only to consolidate on their qualification hope, but to reduce the second leg to a mere formality too.
Nigeria representative must now lay their glorious past Champions League and domestic league expliot to rest and concentrate on the assignment at hand, because they would be no where if their exploit at the Nigeria Premier League is used as a benchmark.
Moreover, they must not forget that Coton walloped Gombe United also of Nigeria on a 6-2 aggregate second round. No thank to the referee who denied the Desert Scorpions a spot kick and cancelled two neatly converted goals to assist the Cameroonians to an easy first leg home win.
Suffice it that Gombe United played against CAF President, Isa Hayatou, a prince from the ruling family in Garoua, home of Coton Sports. Alhaji Hayatou is said to be an Emir in waiting and he is likely to assume the traditional stool after South Africa 2010 Mundial assignment. Underlining these are facts that Coton Sports parade international players across the African continent they possess the character for hi-tech performance in continental soccer. Enyimba may complain that poor officiating robbed them of point(s) against Al-Hilal, but must not forget that there is no place for reversal of results in African football, especially when it is an Anglophone complaint.
The match ahead is not just the rekindling of the historic soccer rivalry between Nigeria and her neighbour, Cameroon; it is another page in the Anglophone/Francophone soccer war. Defeating Coton Sports is very important. It may not be an easy ride, but a convincingly and purposeful display of soccer sophistry could silence any form of officiating antics.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
