Dolphins, Sunshine… Early exit beckons
The two clubs were in action last weekend at home and away but their performances left much to be desired. While the reigning NPL champions, Dolphins managed to secure a slim 2-1 victory over visiting Cotonsports of Cameroon, Sunshine Stars travelled to Angola but returned with a humiliating 4-1 defeat. Already, Dolphins’ opponents are celebrating […]
The two clubs were in action last weekend at home and away but their performances left much to be desired. While the reigning NPL champions, Dolphins managed to secure a slim 2-1 victory over visiting Cotonsports of Cameroon, Sunshine Stars travelled to Angola but returned with a humiliating 4-1 defeat.
Already, Dolphins’ opponents are celebrating the result because they believe it would be easy for them to upturn the slim score line to their advantage. Oben Bouaza, coach of Coton Sport, has since declared that all his team requires in the second leg is a lone goal victory to knock the Port-Harcourt side out of the competition.
Bouaza noted that it might be a difficult task but he has the players to do the job in Garoua in the second leg. He said “We need just a 1-0 victory to qualify for the next stage of the competition. It is a shame that we lost the way we did in the first leg game.
“Yes it is true that we played a big team, but it was a shame that we lost the game in the last two minutes.
“But we have to win the second leg by just a lone goal to be sure of playing in the next stage of the Champions League.
“I must confess that Dolphins is a big team and they couldn’t be Nigerian Champions if they weren’t.”
This shows clearly that Dolphins are walking a tight rope so early in the day but the club which was hit by financial crisis shortly before the match against Cotonsport is confident of remaining in the CAF Champions League.
Coach Stanley Eguma told Shot! in an exclusive interview that there is no cause for alarm. He said now that he has played the Cameroonian side, he has a better understanding of their abilities and would go back to the drawing board to ensure that his team emerges victorious is the return leg.
He said Nigerians should remain optimistic that Dolphins will not bow out of the league at such an early stage. According to him, what Dolphins need to forge ahead is hard work and commitment.
“We are not so disturbed by what lies ahead of us. We are going to Cameroon to beat Cotonsport to remain in the Champions League. What we need is more commitment and hard work. Football is not mathematics so our fans should not think that because we struggled to win 2-1 at home, we cannot record a convincing victory away from home.
“Now that we have seen what the team can offer, we are going back to the drawing board. It is possible for us to turn the table in Cameroon”, he stated.
Eguma said if Cotonsport makes the mistake of undermining the chances of his club, they will pay dearly. The coach said the return leg is going to be a different ball game.
“If Cotonsport gets complacent because of the away goal, they will be in for a rude shock. For me it is not over yet. We are going to Cameroon to get a result that will keep us in the Champions League. I want Nigerians to believe and give us a chance”, he pleaded.
On the other hand, the 4-1 thrashing in the hands of Angolan club, Recreativo do Libolo makes Sunshine Stars’ task in the return leg a herculean one. If they are to remain in the Champions League, they would have to fire three un-replied goals past the Angolans.
This is not going to be an easy task because with such a huge advantage, Recreativo do Libolo would not come to Nigeria and lie low. They are going to fight for a result that would keep them in the competition.
The task at hand is undoubtedly intimidating but the coach of Sunshine Stars, Olubenga Ogumbota, who acknowledged the weaknesses demonstrated in the match by his team, believes that in the second leg Sunshine Stars will react and change the result. “Despite the heavy defeat, my players are able to turn the result in Nigeria. Nothing is lost. “
Going by the results recorded by the two Nigerian clubs, it is evident that unless luck smiles on them in the return legs, they may not survive the hurdles in their paths. If the two NPL clubs exit the competition so early in the day, it would be agonizing time for those Nigerians who are waiting eagerly for another Nigerian club to repeat the feat achieved by Enyimba FC in 2003 and 2004.
The ‘People’s Elephants’ as Enyimba FC is popularly called broke the CAF Champions League jinx in 2003 and did a double the following year but since then no other Nigerian club has won the coveted trophy.
The closest any club came to winning the trophy was in 2009 when Kano Pillars and Heartland squared up against each other in the semi-finals. Heartland FC emerged the better side but could not win the diadem when they lost on away goals to TP Mazembe of Congo DR after tying 2-2 on aggregate.