ACL: Enyimba Gears Up To Seal Progression

Enyimba captain, Chinedu Udoji (right) trying to stop an opponent in a match. He and his mates must be on their toes against Etoile du Sahel, today

Nigerian giants, Enyimba International FC will look to complete an aggregate victory over Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel when the teams meet for the second leg of their CAF Champions League second round clash in Sousse,today Kick off will be at 6pm Nigerian time.
The Peoples’ Elephant as Enyimba is fondly called claimed an emphatic 3-0 home win in the teams’ first meeting in Port Harcourt earlier in the month, with Mfon Udoh scoring a superb hat-trick. The young striker has since signed a new deal with the cub which keeps him on their books until February 2019.
The establishment of such a strong advantage could lead to Enyimba resting on their laurels – something they cannot afford to do against Etoile, who just a few months ago claimed the CAF Confederation Cup title.
The Tunisians are also promising a hostile reception for the visitors, with the Olympic Stadium in Sousse a sell-out ahead of the clash, though Enyimba forward Abu Azeez believes that his side is on course to progress to the next stage of the competition.
“We must qualify to be in the group stage and therefore we are going to fight for it in Sousse. This is the Champions League, if you want to go far you must overcome small and big teams,” Azeez stated on Monday enroute Tunisia
Moroccan referee Noureddine El Jaafari will take charge of the match in Sousse. The aggregate winners will advance to the group stage of the Champions League, while the losers will ‘drop’ into the playoff rounds of the Confederation Cup. Earlier, Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyansi had said that the club possessed the experience and potential to survive Etoile and whatever they would throw at them. He assured that Enyimba would do Nigeria proud and continue to fly the flag in the continental Premier clubside competition. That is what many Nigerians are expecting tonight.
Meanwhile Tidesports source gathered that the main game plan for Enyimba against Etoile du Sahel on Wednesday is to ensure they work against conceding corners and free kicks around their goal area.
Enyimba beat Etoile 3-0 in a CAF Champions League second round, first leg match in Nigeria, but the top Tunisian club aim to overturn that loss to qualify for the money-spinning group phase of the competition.
“Enyimba will ensure they do not concede too many corners and free kicks around their box because Etoile are very deadly on set pieces with their giant defenders as well as top striker Ahmed Akaichi great at finishing off any team this way,” a top source informed AfricanFootball.com
“Even when Enyimba beat them 3-0 in Port Harcourt, they came very close to scoring through those set pieces and in one instance, goalkeeper Theophilus Afelokhai had to make a big save to deny them.”
Enyimba have also trained for this crunch clash with the first team playing a man short should they have a player sent off during the match in Sousse.
They will be without suspended star midfielder Joseph Osadiaye, while they are sweating on the fitness of another midfielder, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu ‘Mosquito’, who has only recovered from food poisoning this week.
The seven-time Nigeria champions will have a first feel of the match venue tonight after they arrived Tunisia on Monday.