CAF Confederation Cup
MBAOMA, ENYIMBA’S NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Gone were the days when Nigeria hopeful Enyimba were one of the most-feared teams on the continent to the same extent that the People’s Elephants were successively crowned continental champions in 2003 and 2004.
The Aba-based side have struggled ever since much more so in the on-going continental cup campaign since they flattered to deceive in the Total CAF Champions League after posting a 5-1 aggregate win over Rahimo FC of Burkina Faso, Enyimba lost 1-0 on aggregate to Al Hilal of Sudan to drop off into the play-off for the Total CAF Confederation Cup.
Though, they did spank South Africa’s second division side TS Galaxy 4-1 on aggregate to secure their berth in the Confederation Cup mini-league group stage, Enyimba have recorded a loss and a win in two matches following that 2-0 away defeat to Hassania Agadir on MatchDay 1 and that hard-fought 1-0 home win against San Pedro on MatchDay 2.
As the mini-league reaches halfway mark on MatchDay 3, three-point Enyimba are second on the log in Group D behind Hassania Agadir of Morocco, who have six points, while Algerian debutants Paradou and San Pedro of Cote d’Ivoire are both in the rear with one point each.
However, Enyimba striker Victor Mbaoma reckons his side must avoid defeat against the ‘Blue and Yellow’ on Sunday in Blida.
“Our expectation against Paradou is to win because if we need to qualify from this group for the quarter finals, we need to win our matches henceforth,” the Enyimba Number 25 said in an interview with CAFOnline.com
“We have lost one and won one of the previous two matches; this is our third match in the group stage and we can’t afford to lose again. We just have to win so that it can enhance our chances of qualifying from this difficult group.”
The 23-year-old forward, recruited from Nigerian top flight side Remo Stars at the start of the season, is regarded as one of his side’s outstanding players this term.
“We have a lot of quality players and I’m really happy because being here has really helped me personally; it has helped me to grow as a person and as a player.”
But this is not Mbaoma’s debut on the continent after his four goals for Akwa United in the Uyo-based side’s ill-fated campaign in the 2018 Total CAF Confederation Cup, where they exited in the penultimate round before the group stage.
“The experience has been very good,” surmise Victor whose surname, Mbaoma, means ‘good man’ in his native Abia State in Eastern Nigeria.
“I’m grateful to be able to play at the continental level again; and it has really helped my game and exposed me as a player.
“My best moment so far in this Total CAF Confederation Cup was scoring against TS Galaxy at home in Aba as well as when we qualified for the group stage.
“In the Nigerian league, it was when I scored twice against Adamawa United because it boosted my confidence to go for the top scorer of the season; and this has really strengthened me,” he said.
Yet for Mbaoma, it’s not a question of how good he is currently but how good he wants to be as he models his fledging career after Portuguese great, Cristiano Ronaldo.
“My footballing hero has always been Cristiano Ronaldo simply because he loves to win and score goals,” Mbaoma said with an unmistakable clarity.
“I always like to watch him and you can see that he’s not always happy when he doesn’t score goals. I try to emulate such a great player because I love to score goals too.”
Fixtures
Group A
SUNDAY
- Alexandria Al Masry (Egypt) vs Pyramids (Egypt)
- Mauritania Nouadhibou (Mauritania) vs Enugu Rangers (Nigeria)
Group B
SUNDAY
- Conakry Horoya (Guinea) vs Djoliba (Mali)
- Johannesburg Bidvest (South Africa) vs El Nasr (Libya)
Group C
SUNDAY
- Porto Novo ESAE (Benin) vs Zanaco (Zambia)
- Berkane RS Berkane (Morocco) vs Motema Pembe (DR Congo)
Group D
SUNDAY
- Blida Paradou (Algeria) vs Enyimba (Nigeria)
- Abidjan San Pedro (Cote d’Ivoire) vs HUSA (Morocco)
CAF Confederation Cup
CAF adjudges Morocco’s Youssef Mehri’s goal as the fastest in football history
Moroccan club, Renaissance de Berkane, beat their Algerian counterparts, CS Constantine, 4-0 in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals at the weekend.
The game got off to a dream start for the Moroccan club as it took Youssef Mehri less than a minute to open the scoring in the big win against the Algerians.
Officially, the goal is recorded to have been scored after 13 seconds.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), CAF remarks: “Youssef Mehri goes straight into the history books. The RS Berkane striker scores the fastest goal ever scored in the CAF Cup.”
A deeper search by Sports Village Square indicates that a Nigerian player, Paul Onuachu, had previously scored a faster goal, but not in a CAF Cup duel.
The basketball player-like footballer scored his first international goal in a 1-0 defeat of Egypt on 26 March 2019.
The goal inflicted Nigeria’s first defeat on Egypt in 29 years. But more significant was the timing of the goal. Onuachu, within eight seconds of kick-off, undoubtedly entered the record books as the second fastest goal in international football records after that of Germany’s Lukas Podolsk, who scored after six seconds in a friendly against Ecuador in 2013.
Fans had hardly settled down at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba for the Nigeria versus Egypt match when Onuachu released a thunderous shot that turned out to be the match’s decider.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
The Renaissance Sportive de Berkane delegation will travel to Algeria this Friday to face CS Constantine in the CAF Cup. Tension may be building up for the potentially explosive confrontation that could have a build-up from last year’s fixtures of the Moroccan club and another Algerian outfit, USM Algiers, in the CAF Confederation Cup.
A Moroccan news outlet, Sport.le360, reports that a Tunisian airline will operate the direct flight between Oujda-Angad Airport, which is located about 12 kilometres north of Oujda and about 600 kilometres northeast of Casablanca, near the Algerian border and Constantine Mohamed Boudiaf International Airport.
Last year, political differences between Morocco and Algeria scuttled similar semi-final clashes between clubs of both countries.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday ruled in favour of the Algerian football federation in a row over a map of Morocco on shirts worn by Renaissance Berkane in the 2024 CAF Confederation Cup.
Algerian club USM Alger were kicked out of last year’s competition after both legs of their semi-final against Berkane were cancelled because of a diplomatic dispute.
Neither match took place as USMA and the Algerian authorities objected to a map of Morocco on the Berkane shirts which included Western Sahara.
Algeria cut diplomatic ties with North African neighbours Morocco in 2021, partly over the Western Sahara issue.
The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks the territory’s independence.
The Confederation of African Football awarded Berkane a 3-0 victory for both legs of the semi-final.
CAF at the time responded to an appeal by the Algerian FA by ruling in favour of Berkane, saying the club had been wearing the same jerseys since the start of the tournament.
But the Algerian FA took the case to sport’s highest court in Switzerland, which determined that the shirts in question were “contrary to CAF regulations, as they display a territorial map that is of a political nature.”
“The image of a map of Morocco including Western Sahara on the shirts of RS Berkane depicts a message, a demonstration or propaganda of a political nature as it represents the assertion of a territorial dispute that is contested and still unresolved as of today,” CAS said in a statement.
“By the laws of the game of the International Football Association Board, it is prohibited to convey any content of a political nature on all equipment, including shirts.”
CAS added that the initial decision by CAF to “maintain the approval of the shirts is annulled”, but the court said that it would have no effect on the results of the tournament.
Egypt’s Zamalek beat Berkane on away goals in the final.
-AFP
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY5 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- U-17 AFCON1 week ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL1 week ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- Nigerian Football7 days ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- feature5 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu