Three of the four Nigerian clubs for this year’s CAF club competitions, Enyimba FC, Kano Pillars and Niger Tornadoes will kick-start their campaign this week even as the other representative, Enugu Rangers have been drawn bye in the Confederation Cup.
After emerging as first and second winners in the NPFL Super 6 in Lagos, Enyimba FC and Kano Pillars secured the tickets to represent Nigeria in the CAF Champions League.
Although they emerged as Aiteo Cup Champions, Kano Pillars had qualified for the continent so their slot automatically went to Niger Tornadoes who joined Enugu Rangers in the second tier competition, the Confederation Cup.
Consequently, while the duo of Kano Pillars and Niger Tornados will be aiming to win their first major continental title, Enyimba FC and Rangers have already tasted glory in the continent.
While Enyimba FC won the CAF Champions League back to back in 2003 and 2004 to become Nigeria’s most successful club, their neighbours, Enugu Rangers had won the Africa Cup Winners Cup in 1977, 26 years before Enyimba’s first continental title.
Although they are yet to win any continental title, Pillars and Tornadoes also boast of experience in CAF Clubs competitions.
Kano Pillars five time winners of the domestic league have appeared five times in the Champions league beginning from 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
However, their best performance was in 2009 when they reached the semi-final against compatriots Heartland FC of Owerri. In their remaining appearances, they failed to impress as they couldn’t boast of even reaching the group stage.
They were eliminated in the first round in 2011, 2013, 2015. Their worst outing was in 2014 when they crashed out in the preliminary round.
On their part, Niger Tornadoes who will be featuring in the 2019 Confederation Cup as the lowest ranked Nigerian club in the continent have appeared only once when they reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup Winners Cup in 2011.
Since then, they have not tasted continental football so the present campaign offers them a golden opportunity to rewrite their history.
This daunting responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of their returnee technical adviser, Coach Abubakar Bala.
For this weekend’s continental engagements, Enyimba FC are already in Burkina Faso to battle Rahimo FC in the first leg of their preliminary round tie billed for the 10,000-capacity Stade Wobi <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stade_Wobi&action=edit&redlink=1> in Ouagadougou.
Although they once again failed to impress in this year’s Aiteo Cup where they were eliminated by giant killers, Smart City FC of Lagos, Enyimba’s pedigree in the continent is well known.
Consequently, they are highly favoured to scale the Rahimo FC hurdle to progress to the next round of the qualifiers.
However, in the interview he granted CAFonline, the technical adviser of the ‘peoples elephants’, Musa Abd’allah said his team is not going to underrate the Burkinables.
“We have to get a very positive result when we travel away for the first leg match against Rahimo,” the 45-year-old Abdallah said.
“We can’t afford to take chances because they are a team that know how to get good results even away from their base in Burkina Faso. Rahimo may be a young team but with information at our disposal, they are a strong team and they can be frustrating especially when they adopt a peculiar 4-5-1 formation.
“We can all think and anticipate about what we are going to do but the truth is that we can’t underrate Rahimo. Our objective first and foremost is to get a good result in the first leg.”
Abdallah, who guided Enyimba to their record eighth Nigerian league title last June, said the People’s Elephants must be up and running to reclaim their pride on the continent.
It will be recalled that the two-time African Champions have not lived up to expectations following their failure to progress beyond the group stage during their last CAF Champions League campaign in 2016.
Meanwhile, the winner on aggregate between Enyimba and Rahimo will face either Sudanese side Hillal or Rayon Sports from Rwanda in the second round for a place in the group stage.
In the same vein, Kano Pillars who have been drawn against Ghana Premier League record titleholders Asante Kotoko in the first round have an uphill task this Saturday at the Sani Abacha stadium in Kano.
As stated earlier, the 5 time Nigerian champions have in recent times failed to go beyond the first round except for 10 years ago when they made it to the semi-final.
Therefore, their battle against Asante Kotoko is one they must win to avoid a repeat of what happened to them in 2014 when they exited the Champions League at this same stage.
In terms of preparation, it can’t be denied that Pillars have prepared adequately. Apart from their recent victory in the Aiteo Cup, the ‘Masu gida’ boys who stayed back in Kaduna to get ready for the Kotoko match have played a series of friendly matches.
According to the Media Officer, Idris Malikawa, Pillars played a total of six crack friendly matches in Kaduna before returning home for today’s encounter with Kotoko.
They have since rounded up training and for them, the D-day is finally here.
The technical adviser of Pillars, Ibrahim Musa told Trust Sports that his boys are battle ready as he said they are highly motivated to take on their opponents.
“We are ready to battle Ashante Kototo. We know their pedigree but we cannot be intimidated.
“Going by our preparation for this match and the support we have enjoyed from the government and people of Kano State, I am confident we shall emerge victorious.
“It is not going to be easy but we have the players with the experience to compete at this level,” he assured.
Despite his assurance, Pillars will be without four of their key players who failed to meet up with requirements for registration. They are fleet-footed striker, Adamu Hassan, rock-solid central defender, Sunday Chinedu, new revelation, David Ebuka and Awar Ali.
However, Kano Pillars won’t lack motivation on the pitch as experienced campaigners, Rabiu Ali and Gambo Mohammed will be available to inspire the rest of the players.
In addition, when they are playing well, the vociferous Kano Pillars fans can easily intimidate any visitors at the Sani Abacha stadium.
The winner between Pillars and Kotoko will take on either Etoile Sportive du Sahel of Tunisia or Guinean side Hafia FC in the second round.
Meanwhile, Niger Tornadoes will also face Guinea side, Santoba Conakry in the first round of the CAF Confederations Cup at the Ahmadu Bello stadium in Kaduna and if they progress, they would take on Ivorian club San Pedro who was drawn bye in the first round.
Tornadoes most experienced defender, Reuben Ogbonaya told Trust Sports that the Nigeria National League side have the capacity to do well in the continent beginning with their match against Santoba.
“We are prepared for our continental games and the new players we have in the team know the task ahead of them. With the support we have enjoyed so far from the government and people of Niger State, we are looking forward to a successful campaign,” he said.
The other Confederation Cup side, Enugu Rangers, who finished third in the 2019 NPFL season were also drawn bye in the first round.
The Flying Antelopes will face the winner of the two-legged tie between AS Pelican (Gabon) and AS Maniema Union (Democratic Republic of Congo) between September 13th and 15th.
It will be recalled that Rangers under their former Coach Gbenga Ogunbote reached the group stage of last year’s CAF Confederation Cup. Talk of motivation and experience, Rangers won’t be found wanting.
