BEVERLY HILLS, April 29, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s representative at this year’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederations Cup, Enyimba FC of Aba were not only on the very brink of elimination but were set for the embarrassing prospect of ending the group stages of the competition as the team at the bottom of the group after regulation time in their final Group A match against South Africa’s Orlando Pirates on Wednesday night in their Enyimba International Stadium in Aba.
The two-time African champions of continental team football without their inspirational captain and highest goal scorer, Austin Oladapo, had played valiantly but could not breach the defenses of the opponent for that all-important goal that could alter their chances for the better until the fifth minute of extra time when Cyril Chinedu Olisema produced a winning goal.
It was just what Enyimba needed to climb from the bottom to the top of the group and go ahead of Pirates, though they finished equal in points and they both qualified for the next round. However, they left it late, were on the knife-edge throughout and had so much to do to arrive at this glorious outcome but proved they could do it. One huge determining factor was the last game they played before meeting the Pirates, their loss to Al Ahli Benghazi.
The People’s Elephant has dug themselves into a ditch against Benghazi on Thursday night, last week, after succumbing to a narrow 1-0 loss at the Martyrs of February Stadium, which allowed the Libyans leapfrog Enyimba to place second in Group A. It made their last match against Pirates take on a lot more significance as they needed to obtain a better result than the 1-2 loss suffered in the first fixture in Pretoria to be assured of progress.
That was what Olisema provided with his last-gasp goal to book the team a quarter-final slot. The result was not a true reflection of the game and the Nigerian side indeed needed to injection of the presence of their missing captain to up the tempo of the game on favour of the People’s Elephant but, in his absence, they could do without conceding which Fatai Osho’s men managed to avoid.
The contribution of Anayo Iwuala, the newly capped Super Eagles’ player, and the display from Victor Mbaoma and Tosin Omoyele were massive for the hosts, allowing them the run-ins to disturb the game plan of the South Africans whilst keeping the match competitive. Yet, the goal was not forthcoming and the deadlock remained in place as the clock ran down.
In the final moments of regulation time, seeing their prospects of continental glory inching away, Enyimba stepped up the pressure. Anayo’s header whistled narrowly wide and Omoyele put the ball in the net but his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.
As ES Setif was winning in the other final Group A match against Al Ahli, and Enyimba was rock bottom, it was going to take everything they had to get back into contention. And, that was what happened. There were only a couple of seconds left of added time when Olisema popped up in the opponent’s danger area to send an effort beyond the reach of Pirates goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands for the winner.
By the slim margin of a lone goal victory, the People’s Elephants jumped to joint-lead of the group, and qualified for the next stage with Orlando Pirates. They must know that improvements are necessary as they progress but they have rendered themselves a massive hand and must be proud of how they did it. They have given a good account of themselves and earned the title of the People’s Elephant indeed.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
