By Hanifat Mustapha: Enyimba captain Ifeanyi Anaemena is confident of victory but is not taking Energie of Benin Republic lightly in the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup second leg clash at the U. J Esuene Stadium, Calabar on Sunday.
Enyimba defeated Energie 2-0 in the first leg at the Stade de l’Amitié de Kouhounou , Cotonou on Wednesday.
“We are not thinking that way, that it’s easy; rather we have intensified our training and preparation because we know football can be funny. There is nothing like an easy match. We know Energie can bounce back but it is our responsibility to show that the first leg result was no fluke,” Anaemena told Cafonline.com.
“We are a team that plays to win but we are not getting carried away because we won the first leg away from home 2-0. Our focus is to win but if we have the opportunity we can even score more goals. The most important thing for us is to win our match and achieve to the next round.
“We feel very much at home in Calabar because we have been playing our home matches here for the past three seasons. The good thing is that our supporters cut across Nigeria and we have solid support from the fans here in Calabar and its environs. Most of our fans in Aba come for our games; so we have the support of everyone.”
Enyimba have struggled in Africa since winning the CAF Champions League in 2003 and 2004 but the former Giwa FC defender believes the team has all the factors to restore their continental glory this season.
“It is true that Enyimba have not won an African title recently but it’s our determination to do well this year in the CAF Confederation Cup,” the defender added.
“We have started well with that good first leg result against Energie. We want to continue with that good performance in our subsequent matches. Our focus now is the weekend match against Energie and after that we can think of the next round.
“It would be wrong to say we want to rely on one player or the other. We are a team and we all have to contribute our best towards the success of the team. I’m not indispensable as the captain in the team, everybody in the team is important and that is the strength of this Enyimba squad. It’s our determination to do well as a team.
“The good thing with Enyimba is that we have so many experienced players who are self-motivated and this is a great plus for the team. Any one of us could have been appointed as the captain and this makes my job easier as the captain of the team.”
The 26-year-old also revealed his reason for joining the team in 2015.
“I was fascinated with the success of the team when I was growing up. It was my desire as an Ibo to play for any of the traditional big teams from the Eastern part of Nigeria; so I was happy to join Enyimba from Giwa FC in 2015. It was a dream come true for me and I would be happy to lead the team to many great honours.”
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