On a couple of occasions, Enyimba International have been left standing as the only Nigerian team in the CAF inter-club competitions and in such situations, their progression have had to help shore up Nigeria’s coefficient ranking among countries eligible to produce four teams (two for each) in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Congratulation Cup.
In this year, it was the same scenario. Playing in the second tier CAF Confederations Cup this year, the serial Nigerian champions saw themselves carrying the same burden once again following the early exit of the trio of Rangers Internationals of Enugu, Remo Stars of Ikenne and El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri.
Playing in the seemingly lucrative CAF Champions League, reigning Nigerian champions, Rangers International, crashed out in the playoff to Angola’s Esperance Sagrada. Sagrada won 3-1 to go through to the group stage 3-2 on aggregate after the Flying Antelopes had earlier defeated them 1-0 in Uyo.
Nigeria’s other representatives in the inter-club competitions, Remo Stars and El Kanemi Warriors (who won the Federations Cup) were knocked out in the previous rounds of the Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.
Enyimba, however, progressed to the group stage of the Confederations Cup at the expense of Etoile Falange of Burkina Faso following a penalty shootout. Both teams failed to score in both legs of their clash and it needed a penalty shootout to decide the overall winners. Enyimba shaded it 3-2 to move ahead in the competition.
On the basis of this, the huge responsibility of carrying Nigerian flag and shoring up the country’s coefficient rating then once again fell on their shoulder.
However, the People’s Elephants couldn’t have had the worse start at the group stage of the round robbing games as they failed to hold their own against Egyptian side, Al Masry, last week.
The abysmal part of the game, which was played at Suez Canal Stadium in Ismaili, was that Enyimba never mounted any serious challenge against Al Masry as the home team dominated the former African champions.
Consequently, Mahmoud Hamada’s brace, one in each half of the 90 minutes ensured that the home team took the maximum three points, leaving the former Nigerian champions with a huge task to assert themselves well in the Group D of the competition.
As a matter of fact, Enyimba reportedly have their goalkeeper, Ani Ozoemena, to thank for the only two goals conceded, as he pulled off several saves in the second half. According to ana¬lysts, Going by Enyimba’s approach in their first group game, it was obvious that the team was never ready for the challenges ahead as they lacked organization in their defence and were goal shy upfront.
The apprehension is further fueled by the fact that later today, they would be up against another Egyptian giant and the defending champions, Zamalek, a highly rated side, highly experienced in continental football. Recall that it was Zamalek that denied Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) the CAF Champions League title in 1984 and 1996, as the Nigerians lost in the finals to the Egyptians in those years.
Obviously, the qualification of Enyimba from the Group D could rightly be hinged on today’s result against the Whites Knights. This is according to a football analysts, Olaniyi Tolulope, who also charged the former Nigerian champions to try and neutralise the strength of the visitors.
“While Enyimba boasts an impressive CAF history, including two Champions League titles (2003, 2004) and a Super Cup win in 2004, the Confederation Cup remains elusive,” he said.
“Their December 8, 2024, home fixture against Zamalek will be critical to their quali¬fication hopes. To keep their campaign alive, Enyimba must neutralize Zamalek’s strengths which include strong midfield, defense and attacking. The People’s Elephant should also capitalize on home advantage,” he said.
While Enyimba and Rivers United have severally rescued the country from dropping to a single club entry in each of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup by advancing to the group stage of the second tier competition, their performances have left a sour taste in the mouth of Nigerians.
They have struggled abysmally with difficulties in advancing beyond the group stage. For example, last year after the crash of the then Nigerian champions, Enyimba, and their deputy, Remo Stars, at the first huddle in the CAF Champions League, as well as the elimination of Bendel Insurance (then Federation Cup holders) in the CAF Confederations Cup, the task fell on Rivers United, whose campaign in the second tier cup came by virtue of finishing third in the penultimate season.
The Pride of Rivers then ensured that Nigeria paraded four teams in the ongoing inter-club competition by making it to the group stage. That feat ensured that the the country placed 12 (the last on the coefficient rank¬ing to produce two clubs because from 13th spot enters one team apiece).
Presently, Nigeria is twelfth on the coefficient ranking and that is as a result of Enyimba ‘s progression into the group stage but, according to the latest coefficient ranking (as per Wikipedia), Enyimba must up the ante in order for the Nigerian federation not to be caught napping.
The information, as obtained by our correspondent, said association ranking for the 2025–26 CAF Champions League and the 2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup will be based on results from each CAF club competition from 2020–21 to the 2024–25 season, noting that despite the guarantee for next season (as Enyimba secured it by going to the group stage), Associations’ points might increase on the basis of their clubs performance in 2024–25 CAF (ongoing) club competitions.
What that means is that countries below the 12th position whose clubs perform excellently at the ongoing interclub tourneys could relegate Nigeria down to 13th spot or even lower, which would affect the number of clubs for the next CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup.
For instance, the table accompanying the analysis on Wikipedia shows that as of the moment of writing this piece, Mali had taking over the 12th spot as they have a team each in the Champions League and Confederations Cup. While Djoliba FC are last in Group D of the Champions League with only one game played though, Stade Malien are second in Group B of the Confederations Cup having won their opening game – a development that has counted for them against Nigeria. The coefficient could also change after the match-day two this weekend.
Consequently and ahead of today’s game against the cup holders, Zamalek, who have won the title twice, the best bet for the nine times Nigerian champions is a win as anything on the contrary would jeopardise their progression and could ultimately affect the Nigerian federation.
This match may not come the way of Enyimba without the Peoples Elephants sweating for the victory and this is understandable. The White Knights, on Monday, delivered a complete dominants attacking performance at Mahalla, claiming a 4-0 win over Ghazl El-Mahalla in an Egyptian Premier League match. They are sitting second on their table, just a point behind Enyimba’s conquerors last week, Al Masry.
On their own and after thirteen matches they have played as against fifteen so far, Enyimba have shown relative form with five wins, six draws and two losses, sitting on the sixth position, with eight points separating them and the table toppers, Rivers United.
Also, Enyimba will be using this match to attempt to rewrite history as the People’s Elephants have never beating the White Knights. They have met on four previous occasions with Zamalek winning twice while the other two ended in draws. Incidentally, one of the wins was a 2016 CAF Champions League group stage game where the then Paul Aigbogun-led Elephants capitulated 1-0 in Port Harcourt against the White Knights.
However, Coach Yemi Olanrewaju, while ruing their loss against Al Masry, said they would up their games to dispatch Zamalek.
In a monitored interview, the coach noted that they still firmly have their fate in their hands and promised to deliver the needed result.
“We didn’t go to Egypt to lose because we wanted to get a result which never came,” he said
“But one thing is that this is a group stage where any team can still recover from a loss and that is what we hope to do on Sunday.
“We have our fate in our hands and I am not sure Zamalek is not wary of us. They are the defending champions and with huge continental experience but Enyimba is also a big side in Africa.
“I want our fans to rally around us with their prayers and support because we need them at this time,” he said.
However, a striker with Zamalek, Abdel Maguid (as per the club’s official website), has said they expect a tough match in Nigeria against Enyimba given that the Nigerian representatives had lost their opening fixture.
Maguid who was among the goal scorers in the team’s last league match against Ghazl el Mahala said however that they hope to give it their all as the champions.
“Enyimba is a great club and I don’t think the match will come easy for us,” he told the club’s website.
“They lost to Masry and will want to come back stronger and better so we expect to have a tough match in Nigeria.
“But we are also not going to make it easy for them. We are the champions and will play like champions. We hope to see a positive result,” he said.
