The Disastrous Outing Of Plateau United, Kano Pillars In CAF Interclub Competitions
By Our Correspondent
On December 5, two Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup campaigners, Plateau United and Kano Pillars crashed out of the two continental leagues same day, respectively.
First to be bundled out was the NPFL champions Plateau United who played out a barrenn draw with host Simba SC in Tanzania to be eliminated from the CAF Champions League by aggregate scoreline of 1-0
On the other hand, Kano Pillars, playing at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium failed to score against their opponents, Jaraaf FC of Senegal.
With the first leg ending 3-1 in favour of the Senegalese club on Sunday last week, the Nigerian side needed a 2-0 win to progress to the next preliminary round.
Plateau were eliminated after their goalless draw in Tanzania against Simba SC, after losing the first leg of the tie 1-0 at the New Jos Stadium, Jos last Sunday.
Pillars also played 0-0 against Senegalese side ASC Jaraaf at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna to bow out of the competition, after they were beaten 3-1 last Saturday in Dakar in the first fixture.
Nigeria’s hope in the CAF club competitions now rests on former African champions Enyimba and Rivers United, who both play today.
The Aba-based Enyimba have a better chance of progressing to the second preliminary round of the Champions League after defeating Rahimo FC 1-0 in Ouagadougou last Saturday.
They host the return leg at the Aba International Stadium on Sunday.
Rivers host Equatorial Guinea’s Futuro Kings in the second leg after losing the first leg 1-0 on Saturday
It could be recalled that Kano Pillars went to Dakar Senegal in the first leg with a total of 94 delegates while Plateau United went to Tanzania with 45 delegates all made up government functionaries, among others.
Can Enyimba International FC and Rivers United keep Nigeeia’s flag up their in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, respectively?
Nigerians are optimistic that the odd favours Enyimba to progress but Rivers United need to win their match by 1-0 to reach the next preliminary round.