Amajita, Al Ahly hurdles for F/Eagles, Sunshine

While the junior Eagles will slug it out with their South African counterparts tomorrow at the Ilorin Township stadium for a ticket to be at next year’s Africa U-20 Championship in Algeria, CAF Champions League campaigners, Sunshine Stars of Akure will be host to one of Africa’s most successful club sides, Al Ahly of Egypt […]

While the junior Eagles will slug it out with their South African counterparts tomorrow at the Ilorin Township stadium for a ticket to be at next year’s Africa U-20 Championship in Algeria, CAF Champions League campaigners, Sunshine Stars of Akure will be host to one of Africa’s most successful club sides, Al Ahly of Egypt today in Abeokuta.

The two matches are crucial for the Nigerian teams as only convincing victories would keep their hopes alive. The Flying Eagles who would take on the Amajita of South Africa in the return leg of their second round qualifiers at the Ilorin township stadium, need victory, if they are to move to the next round.

Although the junior Eagles did marvelously well by forcing the host South Africa to a 1-1 draw in the first leg encounter played in Johannesburg, the South Africa’s who arrived Nigeria on Thursday in high spirits are not perturbed. The Amajitas are sounding confident because they still fancy their chances.

By scoring that important away goal, the Flying Eagles have remarkably reduced the pressure that would have been on them but the coach of the team, John Sam Obuh knows it is not yet uhuru. He has since told his players to go all out for victory tomorrow.

As an experienced coach, he knows the consequences of complacency when a game of such magnitude is to be placed against tricky opponents. He said the result in the first leg is already history and his boys should not rest on their oars.

Flying Eagles midfield maestro, Moses Terese Orkuma is upbeat as he told Shot! that there would be no hiding place for the South Africans. He said having successfully contained the Amajitas in the first leg, he does not see them proving too difficult to handle in the second leg.

Orkuma who is Lobi Stars pillar in the midfield was however quick to note that his show of confidence should not be misinterpreted to mean undermining the Amajitas. He said the South Africans are in Nigeria to cause a major upset and the Flying Eagles would not take anything for granted.

“It is not going to be an easy game because the South Africans are equally good. I really thank God that we got a draw in the first leg which gives us a breathing space.

“The first match was a tough one but with determination, we were able to get a point. Our opponents would be out to get back their own pound of the flesh and that is what we would try to avoid.

“I am confident that we would beat them. We are ready for this crucial encounter. Expectations are really high and we cannot afford to let Nigerians down. We are mentally and physically fit for this match”, he maintained.

In the other crucial match to be played this evening, Sunshine Stars will square up against Egyptian giants, Al Ahly. The former CAF Champions League winners may not be coming to Ijebu-Ode with the venom that made them a dreaded side some years ago, but they are no doubt a formidable side.

If one puts the pedigrees of the two clubs together, it will become glaring that Sunshine would be face to face with a near insurmountable hurdle. However, since football matches are not won on past records, the Nigerian side is stands a good chance of getting off to a flying start on home soil.

Before now, the captain of the Akure team, Godfrey Oboabona had boasted that his side was ready to take on any opponent in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League. He said having come this far, Sunshine has garnered enough experience to take on any club, be it Al Ahly or TP Mazembe.

At the end of the group matches, it is not TP Mazembe of DR Congo that Sunshine is going to confront but Al Ahly of Egypt. Going by what the captain said, there is no cause for Nigerians to lose any sleep but it is only the end of the full 90 minutes that can tell the story.

Despite the hurdle before it, the Ondo State team is also confident of winning the first leg convincingly to make the return leg in Cairo less daunting. Former junior international and Sunshine Stars first choice goalkeeper, Moses Ocheje told Shot! that Al Ahly won’t survive in Ijebu-Ode.

He said the Akure team is brimming with confidence because of the experiences it has garnered so far. Ocheje said having played against some of the best clubs on the continent in the CAF Champions League, he and his team mates are rearing to go.

His words” We know what we are up against but that is not a problem. Football is not about names but what can be done on the field of play. We hold Al Ahly in high regard but that is not to say we would over respect them.

“It is good to learn from experience. The other time we gave too much respect to Esperance and we paid dearly. That defeat almost cost us our progress in this competition. It was our ability to put that defeat behind us that has kept us going.

“Consequently, we are going to take the fight to Al Ahly. We need to win this match very well so that when we visit them for the return leg, it would not be impossible for us to move up to the finals”.

Ocheje therefore called on fans in Ijebu-Ode to come out in large numbers to cheer Sunshine Stars to victory today.

The confidence exuded by the agile goalkeeper is indeed good for team spirit but it will be too soon to forget the crisis that hit the club recently. The players had cause to protest against non-payment of their sign-on fees and other entitlements.