CAF club football – Improved league as antidote to better outing

But it was a mixed bag of fortunes for the Nigeria football penultimate weekend with the positive part having the upper hand. Besides the three victories, there was also a loss that resulted in the crashing out of one of the continental championship representatives, Dolphins of Port Harcourt. Specifically, one of Nigeria’s representatives in the […]

But it was a mixed bag of fortunes for the Nigeria football penultimate weekend with the positive part having the upper hand.

Besides the three victories, there was also a loss that resulted in the crashing out of one of the continental championship representatives, Dolphins of Port Harcourt.

Specifically, one of Nigeria’s representatives in the CAF Champions League Sunshine Stars of Akure progressed, just as the country’s two representatives in the CAF Confederation Cup, Heartland of Owerri and Warri Wolves advanced to the next round with victories over US Haunt of Douala Cameroon and FC Kallon of Sierra Leone respectively.

What would have been a clean slate for the quartet and a sweet weekend for Nigerian football was punctured by Cotonsport of Cameroon, who avenged US Haunt’s defeat by a Nigerian side with a 1-0 win over Dolphin and an exit ticket to the Port Harcourt side on the away goals rule.

Dolphins had won the first leg in Nigeria 2-1 two weeks earlier in Nigeria.

Sunshine Stars, for their part upturned the 1-4 loss in the first leg to advance to the third round of the CCCAF Champions League by defeating Recreativo de Libolo 3-0 at the Dipo Dina Stadium Ijebu Ode last Sunday.

With the result, Sunshine advanced to next stage of the competition on the away goals rule after scores were deadlocked at 4-4 on aggregate.

At the Dan Anyiam Stadium Owerri, Heartland which had earlier held their hosts to a barren draw edged them out with a 2-1 to inch closer to the money-spinning stage of the second tier continental club soccer championship.

In Ijebu-Ode, Izu Azuka opened scoring for Sunshine in the 25th minute; before Captain Godfrey Oboabona made it 2-0 from the penalty spot on the half hour after Atanda Sakibu’s goal-bound shot was blocked with the hands by an Angolan player.

On-form striker Dele Olorundare then booked Sunshine the ticket to the third round with a diving header off an Ajani Ibrahim cross in the 77th minute.

Goal scorer Olorundare said after the tension soaked encounter that they were motivated by the fact that they want to win the trophy.

“We want to win the trophy and that was the greatest motivation we needed. We were really determined to make it and we did just that. I am looking forward to the next game.”

No doubt, the achievement recorded by the three Nigerian clubs in the continental soccer championships underscores the improvement of the Nigerian football league.

Credit must be given to Super Eagles Head Coach Stephen Keshi whose initiative to raise a national team from the local players has given the home-based players the confidence to remain at home and ply their trade and also contribute to the successes being recorded by clubs in the domestic league.

If the trend continues, one will not be surprised to see Nigeria hoisting her flag for the first time in the newly introduced African Nations Championship, which Nigeria did not qualify in the first two editions.

It was a painful experience that smaller countries like Niger put paid to Nigeria’s qualification ambitions; in a tournament that Sudan and others became senior boys.

The task of making our local league attractive and strong also lies with the club owners and managers who are expected to play the game by the rules and do away with the win at all syndrome that has in the past denied genuine league champions the opportunity to carry the country’s banner to the continental competitions, thereby denying the country’s football of quality representation in such competitions.

They should also make money available to the clubs to pay players allowances and sign-on fees, as football all over the world is big business, and the main actors (the players) should be adequately taken care of.

A situation where most players are left to feed on garri and sugar to go for matches should be stopped.

In this regard, I urged the Nigeria Premier League to strictly enforce the rule that clubs’ contract papers with their players must be made available to the secretariat for scrutiny.

There were even questions after last weekend matches as to why the Nigerian champion cannot successfully manage its 2-1 advantage in nearby Cameroon and crash out of then Champions League when the runners-up were able to upturn the 4-1 deficit to advance.

But the answer here is football is not mathematics and that the quality of opposition could determine the outcome of a match result.

It is also possible that at the end of last football season, the runners-up made quality recruitments to beef the team ahead of its continental campaign, while the champions did not make any recruitment to fortify the squad ahead of the bigger challenge ahead.