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Anyansi cautious, as Ibenegbu declares war on Etoile

By Editor
19 April 2016   |   12:42 am
Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, has sounded a loud warning to his players and technical crew that in spite of a 3-0 first leg win over Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia, much work still has to be done to pick the lucrative...
Felix Anyansi-Agwu

Felix Anyansi-Agwu

• Bassey supervises Mouloudia Olympic Bejaaia versus Zamalek
Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, has sounded a loud warning to his players and technical crew that in spite of a 3-0 first leg win over Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia, much work still has to be done to pick the lucrative group stage ticket.

Enyimba will meet Etoile in the second leg of the tie tomorrow in Sousse.
“We are happy that we won the first leg but the job is not done yet. We still have 90 minutes to battle out in Sousse (Tunisia) for the ticket. We are not celebrating just yet until we return from Tunisia,” Anyansi told Cafonline.com.

“Football is very unpredictable so we are going to approach the second leg as if it is a final. Who says we can’t concede three goals if we fail to prepare adequately.  We are going to work round them and be one of the teams in the group stage of the competition,” he added.

While Anyansi-Agwu is cautious going into tomorrow’s decisive leg, Enyimba’s attacking midfielder, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu,
believes the only way the Aba side can survive in Sousse is by taking the game to the Tunisians.

Ibenegbu said his side will go all out to attack to ensure the Nigerian champions secure qualification to the group stage of Africa’s first tier club competition.

“We are going to approach the encounter in Sousse as if we have not played the first leg, it’s going to be tough given the opponents pedigree but we will get the job well done.

“No, we are not going to defend the 3-0 win in Port Harcourt we will attack with whole lot of caution. “We are determined to see off Etoile du Sahel to firm our foot in the group stage of the competition.“Nigerians should sleep with both eyes closed as there is no cause for alarm,” he said. Ibenegbu is not 100 per cent certain of starting the clash after he developed a stomach upset in Lagos.

The winner qualifies to the group stage of the premier continental club championship with the winner dropping to the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup.

Enyimba are already in Tunis for the top of the bill confrontation that will be handled by Moroccan officials, with Sinko Zeli of Cote d’ivoire as Match Commissioner.

The Tunisian media has applauded CAF for the appointment of the Moroccan referees who they consider as “ justice” in reference to the Togolese officials that handled the first leg match.

They are, however, wondering why a West African has been appointed a match Commissioner, same as Alhaji Jawula of Ghana who handled the first leg match

Meanwhile, respected CAF and FIFA Match Commissioner, Paul Bassey, is in Algeria to superintendent over what is expected to be an explosive return leg match between Mouloudia Olympic Bejaaia of Algeria and Zamalek of Egypt.

The North African derby will have Tunisian referees headed by Youssef Essrayi.While flying out aboard Emirate Airlines from Abuja last Friday, Bassey modestly contested the view that he was specifically picked for the match by CAF considering its high risk nature.

“No. I know it will be tough, with Mouloudia hoping to overturn a two-goal deficit, but don’t forget that at this stage all the matches are considered tough being the last matches that will guarantee qualification to the group stage,” the Akwa United Chairman said.
The match will kick off today by 6.00 p.m. in the beautiful town of Bejaaia, home town of Mouloudia.

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