Enyimba coach Fatai Osho has decried his side’s missed chances against Hassania Agadir of Morocco in Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup tie in Aba, but remains confident the 2-time African champions will advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Austine Oladapo’s 16th-minute effort cancelled out an early goal by the visitors in a disappointing 1-1 draw in a match that saw Enyimba hit the woodwork three times.
The result leaves the People’s Elephant in second place with 7 points, needing a draw in their final group game away against already-eliminated San Pedro of Cote d’Ivoire to qualify for the last 8.
Asked if he thinks Enyimba can still make it to the quarter-finals after the draw against Hassania in Aba, the former Remo Stars gaffer said: “I believe we still stand a very good chance (of making it to the last 8).
“First of all, we want to congratulate Hassania, they are a good team; they did very well today (Sunday). A lot of pressure on them, they were able to cope, and that shows they didn’t break that easy. And that tells why they’ve not lost any match so far.
“Based on what happened today (Sunday), we believe we have a very good chance of qualifying. If there is a doubt if there is a god of soccer, today (Sunday) confirmed the fact that there’s something close to that. We did everything humanly possible to get these goals, but it was not a good day at the office, we couldn’t convert those chances, the begging chances. If you are talking of like 4 goals to 1, it won’t be out of place for us to have such a result.
“But it is unfortunate it has happened, we can’t dwell in self-pity; we can’t do that. We only need to raise our head and see the positive from this particular match, and see what we can do in Abidjan (against San Pedro). We still have a very bright chance,” Osho reiterated.
Enyimba face San Pedro in Abidjan on 2 February, with a draw good enough to guarantee them passage to the quarter-finals of the competition. Hassania Agadir are already through to the last 8.
The NPFL champions reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2018, losing to eventual champions, Raja Casablanca.
