| Nigerians on parade
• As Pirates, Sfaxien, Asec battle for finals ticket
By COSMAS OMEGOH
Saturday, September 30, 2006
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Okonkwo |
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Although Nigeria has no club left in this year’s CAF
Champions League, no fewer then four of her players would
be on parade as the surviving teams fight for tickets to the
final.
ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire, Orlando Pirates of South
Africa and CS Sfaxien of Tunisia, would be featuring Nigerian
stars, who have helped them come this far in the competition.
The trio join Egypt’s Al Ahly to play in the semi finals
round of the competition this weekend.
High flying Sfaxien, who took the Group A top place at the
expense of Egypt’s Ah Ahly would likely parade the attacking
duo of Ishola Shuiabu, Kingsley Ikpoto, when they face Orlando
Pirates today.
Sfaxien, who surprised bookmakers while the round-robin stage
of the competition lasted, have showed both character and
consistency.
Their performance in the competition can not be considered
in isolation from the contributions of the Nigerian pair.
Ikpoto, was a former striker with NPA of Lagos and Ivory Coast’s
Africa Sport before joining the Tunisian side. He earned his
first cap with the Super Eagles last year, when Austin Eguavoen’s
select Eagles played the Squirrels of Benin in Abuja. He got
a goal in that encounter. When the Tunisian side file out
against Pirates, attacking midfielder Shuaibu looks certain
to get the starting shirt. The Super Eagles player is a continental
veteran, having featured in the finals of the now rested CAF
Winners Cup with Julius Berger.
The two Nigerian players would play alongside Ghana International
and former Enyimba player, Joetex Frimpong. Frimpong was in
the Enyimba team that won the CAF Champions League trophy
back to back.
For the first time, he would be confronting his former teammate
at Enyimba, Onyekachi Okonkwo in Johannesburg. Okonkwo plays
for Orlando Pirates. His team came from behind to clinch the
second Group B ticket at the expense of Enyimba. In that encounter,
Okonkwo took his former team to the cleaners with this lone
strike, which separated the two sides. Okowkwo is now the
target of the South African FA, who have offered him a stint
in the Bafana Bafana squad although the skillful midfielder
is yet to accept the offer.
As captain of the Buccaneers as the South African side are
known, the onus is on him today to marshall the midfield and
give his team victory.
But against ruthless Sfaxien, who have won vital away games
in recent times, Pirates appear to have a tall mountain to
climb.
The encounter Africans are waiting for this weekend would
be the Ahly and ASEC clash. ASEC parade Nigeria’s rampaging
Emmanuel Umoh. The Nigerian forward had scored vital goals
for the Ivorian giants during the group stage of the championship.
He grabed the qualifier against Pirates in South Africa and
also scored against Enyimba in Abidjan. He would likely be
Coach Patrick Liewig’s joker as they storm Cairo, hungry
for the full points.
Analysts believe that the winner between Ahly and ASEC in
their two-legged encounter would go ahead to win the championship.
They may not be wrong!
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