In less than a month, actions in the 2024 Confederation of African Football (CAF) inter-clubs competitions will begin with the preliminary round of matches. Enugu Rangers, Remo Stars, Enyimba, and El-Kanemi Warriors are the four clubs that have qualified to fly Nigeria’s flag in the continent. So, by their present status, they are called continental clubs.
As most of us are aware already, Rangers recovered from a poor start to win their eighth league title and Remo Stars finished second to pick the second Champions league slot while Enyimba came third to earn the Confederation Cup ticket in the 2023/2024 NPFL season.
The ‘People’s Elephants’ as Enyimba are called will lead El-Kanemi Warriors into the second tier CAF competition. The warriors from Borno have returned to the continent after they won this year’s Federation Cup at the expense of Abia Warriors. The last time they tasted continental football was in 1993.
At the draw which were held in Cairo for the preliminary round of matches in Champions League and Confederation Cup, it was mixed fortunes for the Nigerian clubs because even as Rangers and Enyimba drew opponents that may not pose any serious challenge, Remo Stars and El-Kanemi weren’t so ‘lucky’ as they landed more tricky opponents. So, if Remo Stars and El-Kanemi do not brace up, it will be another early exit for them.
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Rangers may count themselves lucky as they are to face Comoros Islands’ league champions, Union Sportive Zilimadjou. If the ‘Flying Antelope’ soar over their less endowed opponents, they will meet the winner between St Louis of Mauritius or GDSE of Angola in the second preliminary round.
Enyimba, who were drawn bye, are also not going to face any immediate threat as they will meet the winner between Haifa FC of Guinea and Rahimo FC of Burkina Faso. These clubs are not pushovers, but Nigerian clubs panic the most when they are faced with North African clubs. So, Enyimba will fancy their chances of progressing in the competition.
However, both Remo Stars and El-Kanemi Warriors will be cursing their luck as they are stepping on banana peels almost immediately. Remo Stars will be up against familiar foes, AS FAR of Morocco, and if they are able to scale through, they will battle either Sudanese giants El Merreikh or Libya’s representative in the second preliminary round.
Meanwhile, El-Kanemi Warriors, who are returning to continental football after so many years, will go up against Beninoise club Dadje FC, and if they survive, they would face former champions RS Berkane of Morocco. Many have said that it will be the end of the road for the Borno Warriors. But the Kanem boys are saying that upsets are allowed in football, so anything can happen.
So, these are the opponents that the four NPFL clubs are going to face as they begin the search for the elusive trophies in the CAF inter-club competitions. The last time a Nigerian club triumphed on the continent was in 2004 when Enyimba successfully defended the prestigious CAF Champions League title.
It is on record that 22 years after that historic achievement, no Nigerian club has won a continental trophy as Enyimba, Rivers United, Remo Stars, Plateau United, Kano Pillars, and Bendel Insurance who are the clubs with recent appearances on the continent have put up underwhelming performances.
Sadly, those who want to see this trajectory of consistent failure of Nigerian clubs in CAF competitions may be disappointed again because nothing has changed in the attitude of the NPFL clubs towards the continental competitions.
So many activities are ongoing in the clubs that claim to be preparing to go to battle, but the same mistakes that wrecked their aspirations in the past are being made. Maybe NPFL clubs should listen and learn from the renowned scientist Albert Einstein who said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
Although poor welfare packages for their players and chaotic travel arrangements are recurring problems militating against Nigerian clubs in the continent, the other one that bothers some of us the most is the indiscriminate signing of new players in the name of beefing up their squads for continental football.
Of course, there is no perfect football squad and that is why managers are usually given opportunities to inject new players in their teams whenever the transfer window is opened. Unfortunately, Nigerian clubs seem not to know how to maximise such opportunities. At the moment, what is happening in the four clubs is ridiculous because they are completely rebuilding even as the kickoff of their respective continental competitions is near.
Even as they emerged champions of the NPFL, Enugu Rangers who should be putting finishing touches to their preparations are signing new players on a daily basis. The same thing is happening in the other clubs. As a matter of fact, El-Kanemi Warriors may present a completely new squad when they take on Dadje FC of Benin Republic. At the last count, they had signed more than 10 new players.
Since these clubs are overhauling their squads now that they should be warming up to go into the battlefield, one wonders when the new players would blend and build the necessary cohesion that has been the hallmark of the North African clubs.
One is not opposed to the efforts by the clubs to strengthen their squads but it shouldn’t be done the ‘Chelsea way’. The English giants are in the habit of signing too many new players at once which leaves the ‘Blues’ with strangers who struggle to adapt to team tactics. By the time they begin to gel, the season is as good as gone.
Instead of emulating the ‘Blues’, NPFL clubs in CAF competitions should try and imitate Manchester City who are known for making very few and impactful signings at the beginning of each season. It makes no sense when a club dismantles its squad completely at the end of every season to start all over again.
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