NIGERIA|’S representatives at the continental level will know their opponents on the 19th of this month when the draws are made in Cairo, Egypt.
Kano Pillars and Enyimba of Aba, which will play in the CAF Champions League, as well as Kaduna United and Sunshine Stars of Akure billed for the Confederation Cup, will join over 100 clubs from the 53 national associations affiliated to CAF in the draws for the two club championships sponsored by telecommunications outfit, Orange.
The deadline for the registration for participation in the 2011 continental club championships ended on Tuesday, November 30, and CAF said that clubs for the competitions were expected to have been registered by now. TP Mazembe of DR Congo is the current champion of the Orange CAF Champions League after defeating Esperance of Tunisia in the final, while Morocco’s FUS Rabat took the Orange CAF Confederation Cup title after beating Sfaxien at the weekend.
Speaking ahead of the draws, the hero in Enyimba’s 1-0 victory over 3SC in Aba yesterday in the Nigeria Premier League, Chijioke Ejiogu, believes that his club would be among the teams to beat in the Champions League. Ejiogu scored Enyimba’s wining goal in the game against 3SC off an 86th minute penalty after Uche Kalu was hacked down in the box by a 3SC defender.
According to Ejiogu, “the CAF Champions League is where Enyimba belongs and we can’t wait for the competition to begin. It is even good that the competition will begin when we are in the middle of the league because then we will all be match ready for the games.”
Ejiogu was part of the Enyimba side that failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition last season, but now says the club has learnt its lessons. According to him, “in the Champions League, a team must win its home matches and get at least two away draws to be sure of getting past the group stage. That is after negotiating the qualifying stage, which is always tricky.
“We have players in Enyimba who have played in the competition before, so we wouldn’t be lacking in experience. With the right kind of support from the management, Enyimba can achieve the same success the team of 2003/2004 had in the competition.”
SOURCE:ngrguardiannews.com
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