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CAF Confederation Cup

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP: ENYIMBA, RANGERS AWAIT GROUP OPPONENTS

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BY MUYIWA AKINTUNDE.

Enyimba and Rangers will know their opponents in the group stage of this season’s CAF Confederation Cup. The draw comes up at 11am (Nigerian time) this Tuesday at CAF headquarters in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, with 16 teams in the hat.

The sides will be placed in three pots and allocated into four groups of four teams each.

Given the current ranking of the clubs, reigning NPFL champions Enyimba are in Pot 1, while Aiteo (Federation) Cup winners Rangers will be in Pot 2.

Since their are no federation restrictions at this stage of the competition, there is the possibility of the Nigerian teams in the same group. The same situation will apply to Morocco and Egypt who have teams in different pots.

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Seeded along with Enyimba in Pot 1 are Guinea’s Horoya, RS Berkane (Morocco) and Al-Masry SC (Egypt).

Enyimba lifted the CAF Champions League in 2003 and 2004. Their best outing in the Confederation Cup was semifinal appearance in 2018.

Horoya had won the CAF Cup Winners Cup in 1978 and had featured in the glamorous CAF Champions League nine times, not going beyond the quarterfinals though.

The Moroccan side RS Berkane had an impressive run in the Confederation Cup last season reaching the final but losing to Zamalek 5-3 penalties after both legs deadlocked 1-1. Zamalek chose to feature in the Champions League this term rather than defend their title.

Egypt’s Al-Masry crashed out in the semifinal of the 2018 edition of this tournament.

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In Pot 2 along with Rangers are Morocco’s Hassania Agadir,Zanaco FC (Zambia) and Mali’s Djoliba.

Pot 3 has the rest of the teams. These are: Pyramids FC(Egypt), FC San Pédro (Côte d’Ivoire), FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania), Al-Nasr SC (Libya), Paradou AC (Algeria), Daring Club Motema Pembe (DR Congo), Bidvest Wits (South Africa) and ESAE (Benin Republic)

The group phase kick offs in the weekend of November 29 to December 1 and ends in the weekend of March 6-8, 2020 with the top two teams in each group advancing to the quarterfinals.

No Nigerian club have ever won this competition 15 years after the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners’ Cup were merged to have the present format.

Shooting Stars, now a second division side, won the CAF Cup in 1992, while Bendel Insurance, also in that lower section, repeated the feat two years later.

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In the African Cup Winners’ Cup, which was introduced in 1975, three Nigerian teams achieved the height as champions –Shooting Stars (1976), Rangers (1977) and BCC Lions (1990).

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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CAF Confederation Cup

‘Nzogbu Nzogbu’ Enyimba enyi as Enyimba limp into Confederation Cup Group stage!

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It was not easy, but the end justified the means. Enyimba had to go through the lottery of penalty shoot-out to get into the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday in Uyo after playing a barren draw with visiting Etoile Filante of Burkina Faso.

 The first leg also ended goalless leading to penalty shoot-out as tie breaker. Enyimba won 3-2 on penalties.

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CAF Confederation Cup

CAF Confederation Cup: Enyimba target victory after Solid Showing in Bamako

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Enyimba FC head coach Yemi Olarenwaju has set his sights on securing a crucial victory in Sunday’s second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup tie against Étoile Filante de Ouagadougou.

His confidence is built on the  goalless draw in the first leg in Bamako.

“The job is far from over, and we can’t afford to celebrate yet. The return leg in Uyo will be crucial,” Olarenwaju was quoted by the club’s website as saying.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board, work harder, and prepare for the challenge ahead.”

Olarenwaju praised his team’s tactical edge and discipline, which nullified the hosts’ attacking threats. “We had a clear game plan, and the players executed it perfectly. Our tactical discipline prevented Étoile Filante de Ouagadougou from creating any meaningful scoring opportunities.”

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The Enyimba FC boss acknowledged the tough opposition but remains confident in his team’s ability to secure a win at home.

“Étoile Filante de Ouagadougou is a formidable opponent, but we have the quality and determination to get the job done in Uyo.”

As we look forward to the return leg, we urge all Enyimba FC fans to come out in their numbers and support the team at the Uyo Stadium. Let’s make our home advantage count and cheer the People’s Elephant to victory!

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CAF Confederation Cup

Enyimba’s midfielder, Daga confident of Confederation Cup group stage ticket

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Enyimba’s midfielder,  Daniel Daga, has pledged to lead club to victory against Etoile Filante in the return leg of the CAF Confederation Cup second round on Sunday.

The People’s Elephant are looking to build on their impressive performance in the first leg, which ended in a goalless draw in Bamako, Mali. Despite creating several scoring opportunities, Enyimba were unable to find the back of the net.

However, Daga remains optimistic about their chances in the return leg having missed the first leg of the encounter due to a slight knock

“Our resolve is to win and advance to the group stages,” he stated confidently. “We understand that they are a difficult opponent, but we have just one task, which is to win, and that is exactly what we are going to do.”

A win for Enyimba FC would guarantee their spot in the group stages, a feat that would make them the only Nigerian team in the competition’s group phase.

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“We know the importance of this match, and we’re ready to give it our all,” Daga added. “We want to make Nigeria proud and show that we’re a force to be reckoned with in African football.”

Head coach, Yemi Olarenwaju, has been fine-tuning his tactics, and the team is eager to execute their game plan.

“The first leg result gives us an advantage, but we won’t take anything for granted,” Olarenwaju said. “We’ll push for victory and secure our spot in the group stages.”

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