Kanu Nwankwo, the chairman of Enyimba of Aba, has urged the players to focus on the upcoming 2023/2024 season of the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) following their elimination from the CAF Champions League.
The People’s Elephant had earlier lost the first leg of the CAF Champions League first preliminary round to Al-Ahly Benghazi 3-4 in Libya and needed a lower score victory in the return leg in Aba to secure qualification into the next round.
They however crashed out of the competition in front of their home fans after playing out a goalless draw against the visiting North African side.
The two-time African Footballer of the Year is however optimistic that his team will come out stronger in other competitions.
“It is disappointing, but we have to go home with the positives. If you watched the game you will see that we did create chances, it’s not like they did better than us, they had only one shot at goal. The people of Nigeria supported us. If you look at the stadium you’ll see that it is full, that is a good sign of a good beginning.
When you lose a game of course it is a bad one. But I wouldn’t say it’s a bad start, we want to be there, we want to be in the group stage and do what we have to do. One plus one doesn’t always equal two in football. So if you take the positives like I said you’ll say that yes they did well. If we didn’t play well and we lost, that’s another problem.That’s the point I’ll say that it’s a bad start.” The Super Eagles legend stated.
Papilo urged the players to move on from their elimination and learn from their mistakes as they prepare for future challenges.
“Now Kanu cannot carry the ball and put inside the goalpost, sometimes these things happen to the best teams, the best players and that’s football. We have to move on. On what will happen next, of course the boys have to put their heads up and then know that sometimes in life you fall and you stand up. Let’s not discourage them, we need to support and encourage them to do better next time.
I told them the crowd was here for them, but some of them went home disappointed. They know they have to do better and doing better is to score. So they have to go back to the drawing board and check their mistakes and see what they can do because next time you may still have teams like this to play against and you have to learn from today.” He said.
When asked about the obvious absences of the two coaches of Enyimba in both fixtures, the FIFA Ambassador said it’s something they’ll need time to put right.
“Definitely we will do what we have to do. We know why they are not there and we have to put it right. The future is bright. The truth is that when I came in it’s not up to two months. You have to meet a lot of things, a lot of people you have to strengthen them and pull them in one direction and let them know it’s not business as usual. I believe we’re progressing well.”
Kanu however urged the two-time African champions to focus on the upcoming competitions before them.
“Definitely for a big club like Enyimba, it’s a must to have more players to execute the three competitions we are into. One has gone. Now we have the league and the African league so, yes we have to do more. We have to get more players to join the ones that we do have.
All the same, the sporting director, the coaches and the players themselves have to work harder cause this is not the best start. I believe this will fire them to do more,” the former Super Eagles forward concluded.
