Posted by The Vanguard on
Enyimba FC of Aba, the best football club in Africa in the past two years and the biggest industry in Abia State, look to be imploding.
Enyimba FC of Aba, the best football club in Africa in the past two years and the biggest industry in Abia State, look to be imploding. Great teams do implode at one time or the other, but the People's Elephant has chosen the wrong time. This year, the winning team in the CAF Champions League will go home not only with the $1million prize money, but with a ticket to fly Africa's flag at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan in December. It is a prize dear to the heart of Enyimba mentor, Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, and even though he was in the United State of America when they lost to Raja of Morocco in Casablanca seven days ago, he must have been really worried about his team's situation.
Enyimba lie bottom of the group A, with only one point from three matches, and they need to win all their remaining three matches to qualify for the semi finals. Raja Casablanca, who visit Aba next Sunday, have four points, while Ajax Cape Town of South Africa, who host Al Ahly of Egypt, have two points. Ahly, winners in 2001, have the maximum nine points.
Enyimba's task is made more daunting by the fact that one of their remaining three matches is against Al Ahly away. Ahly will play with the confidence of a team that smacked its opponents right at their backyard, following their 1-0 win in Aba three weeks ago.
The Enyimba story is a compound -complex but it is suffice to say that the problems with the team go far beyond disappearing superstars and off-form veterans. There is problem about motivation, there is problem about fairness and equal treatment and there is problem about coaches on ego trips with players. The full story is for another day.
Only luck will rescue Enyimba from the clutches of ignoble failure. At a time every Nigerian had begun to warm up to the prospect of celebrating an unprecedented Champions league treble on the trot, the bubble looks to be bursting. It is quite sad.
Enyimba chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu is still hopeful that his team can get into the semi finals, ahead of Raja, but what is life without hope? It can happen of course, that Raja shoot themselves in the foot, and the Nigerians can beat Ahly in Cairo. But it must be recalled that Raja have no history of losing at home, and Egyptian clubs hardly do. Ahly's Cairo rivals, Zamalek have not lost an African competition match at home in 29 years!
The tendency is to see this writer as a pessimist. But facts are stubborn, according to one writer. The People's Elephant needs a miracle to get away from the brink, as it is. Raja Casablanca are picking up and the arrival of former coach, Alexandre Moldovan appear to be spurring the team on well. They can go to South Africa and beat Ajax Cape Town, and still have to play Ahly in Casablanca.
The surgeon's knife is sure to be at work soon at Aba. But one thing that has dealt a blow to Enyimba's aggressive push is the departure of a number of top players before the beginning of the season. The likes of Obinna Nwaneri, who was crucial in the defence, and midfield lynchpin Onyekachi Okonkwo left two key departments to fill. None of the tried personnel have been able to adequately fill Okonkwo's shoes, and the lanky midfielder is remembered with a lot of fondness in Aba. While Musa Aliyu have stepped a little more forward to take over this role, he has been working hard but has not the attacking qualities of his former team-mate. Okonkwo left to play for Orlando Pirates in South Africa.
Nwaneri, who left for Esperance in Tunisia, scored the penalty that saw Enyimba lift the trophy for the second time running in Abuja last year, against Etoile Sahel. A hard fighter, his tactics could be seen as crude and unhealthy at times, but he brought a stability and confidence to the central defence that neither Ogar Ode nor Nojim Raji, nor Uche Sheriff has been able to. Uche Sheriff, the big former Julius Berger star, was the problem when Ahly won in Aba, and only got into the frame because Nojim Raji failed a late medical test.
As it is, Coach Okey Emordi has to do something about the midfield, and defender Yusuf Mohammed should be told to stop overlapping if all he would ever do is boot every ball over the bar. There are many defenders in international football who deliver crucial goals for their clubs, but Mohammed was a flop against Ahly in Aba and against Raja in Casablanca.
There is a lot to say for Muri Ogunbiyi, the Beninoise international. His commitment is energizing, in itself. But strikers like Ifeanyi Obediah (how did he get into the Flying Eagles in the first place?) and Atanda Sakibu, and midfielder Chiedozie Johnson make you wonder whether there is still anything as taking half chances in football. They waste full chances without even batting an eyelid.
The other matter is about a championship that we have won twice - the FIFA U-17 World Cup. For the first time in six years, Nigeria's name was not in the bowl at the Draw ceremony for the finals. The Draw conducted in Trujillo, Peru last weekend saw Africa's representatives fixed in different pools, with two-time winners Ghana collecting the weakest as they play Peru, China and Costa Rica in group A. Gambia, the African champions, play world champions Brazil, Qatar and Holland in group D and Cote d'Ivoire play Italy, USA and North Korea in group C.
Nigeria, winners in 1985 and 1993 and runners -up in 2001 in Trinidad and Tobago, were nowhere, having lost out in the African Championship in Gambia. The Golden Eaglets lost 3-2 to Cote d'Ivoire after a 2-2 draw with South Korea and before a too-late 4-1 defeat of Zimbabwe.