CAF Champions League
JOURNEYMAN, TYAVKASE EYES CONTINENTAL GLORY WITH LOBI STARS
Midfielder David Tyavkase says winning yet another CAF Champions League title with Lobi Stars would be a far greater satisfaction than his glorious days with Enyimba.
The 34-year-old, a veteran on the Nigerian domestic scene, was also an important member of the Enyimba squad that won successive CAF Champions League titles in 2003 and 2004 as well as the CAF Super Cup in 2004 and 2005.
At the twilight of his career, Tyavkase has yet to show signs of a spent force, and he is an integral part of Lobi Stars, back in the group stage for the first time since 2000. His experience and trophy-laden days with Enyimba which saw him annex four league titles (2003, 2005, 2007, 2010) and two FA Cup trophies (2005, 2009) has been the tool driving his quest for continental glory with the Makurdi-based club.
“Winning titles was a routine when I was at Enyimba but winning the league last year with Lobi Stars and qualification to play in the CAF Champions League, really made me very happy. It was the first time I was getting something with a team from my hometown and it was my fifth league title. Winning with Lobi Stars was special; it offered me fresh opportunities because I want to keep on playing football as long as I can.
“I hail from Gboko in Benue State (Middle Belt regional zone of Nigeria) and the two clubs that I grew up to know was BCC Lions of Gboko and Lobi Stars of Makurdi; so it’s a great honour for me to play in the CAF Champions League with a team from my state of origin,” said Tyavkase whose middle name, Terzungwe means ‘God is merciful’ in his Tiv dialect.
Officially, this season marks Tyavkase’s 17th year as a professional player and beside stints with Gabonese duo, CF Mounana and US Bitam, he also played for Nigerian sides including defunct Gabros (now known as FC Ifeanyi Ubah) and Heartland.
His first spell with Enyimba lasted between 2003 and 2007 when the club became a dominant force on the continent. He bolted away to Lobi Stars where he spent a year before returning to Enyimba for another two years, 2009 and 2011. He was briefly at Heartland before his expedition to Gabon and only detoured to Lobi Stars in 2016.
“I started with Gabros in the 2001/ 2002 season, and then to Enyimba in 2003. I was lucky to have started my career early at the top level with players who were far ahead of me in terms of age and experience,” he explained.
After four rounds of matches, Lobi sit at the bottom of Group A tied on four points with Ivorian giants ASEC Mimosas. South Africa’s Mamelofi Sundowns and Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco share top spot on seven points apiece.
However, Tyavkase believes Lobi Stars can still progress to the quarters, adding the penultimate tie away to Mamelodi Sundowns in Pretoria is crucial to their aspirations.
“Lobi Stars have only four points now and we need all the three points in our next game against Mamelodi Sundowns to be in contention for the quarter finals. There is nothing impossible in football and we are seriously working towards getting a very good result away in Pretoria,” said Tyavkase, who has no immediate plans of hanging his boots.
“I want to keep on playing as long as I can; I can’t say this is when I want to quit playing football. I’m still very strong; I will stop playing football the day I can no longer kick the ball,” the 34-year old concluded.
Nigeria’s sole survivor into the second round of the CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers have crashed out of the competition. They lost 3-1 to Angola’s Sagrada Esperança this Sunday in Luanda.
The aggregate scoreline is 3-2 as Rangers last weekend won their home game 1-0. Sagrada Esperança opened the game with offensive and got their first goal barely six minutes into the game when Alexandre Fernando found the back of the net.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 33rd minute through Mussa. But four minutes later, Enugu Rangers reduced the tally to 2-1 to carry an away goal advantage into half time.
Jamie Pimpao got the much needed goal for Angola in the 67th minute to seal the hopes of Rangers.
Sagrada Esperança will now go into next month’s draw for the draw of the group stage.
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.
It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.
Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.
The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.
It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.
Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.
Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.
The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.
TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:
Friday, 13 September
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca
Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger
Saturday, 14 September
CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans
Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe
Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR
Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC
Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda
Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO
Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad
Sunday, 15 September
12h00 GMT | Gor Mahia vs Al Ahly
15h00 GMT | Samartex vs Raja CA
16h00 GMT | San Pedro vs Al-Hilal
16h00 GMT | Dekedaha vs ES Tunis
19h00 GMT | Stade d’Abidjan vs Milo FC
The return leg fixtures of the 2nd Preliminary stage will be played between 20 – 22 September.
-CAF
Enugu Rangers’ patchy form in the CAF Champions League continues as they struggled to beat visiting Angola’s Sagrada Esperance 1-0 in the first leg match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was in similar fashion that they played against Union Sportive de Zilimadjou of Comoros Islands who they beat 2-1 over two legs in Uyo.
Rangers’ lone goal was scored by Kazeem Ogunleye in the 80th minute.
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