Enyimba captain Austin Oladapo has admitted that his side’s 2-1 win against Algerian outfit Entente Setif in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday did not come on a platter of gold, describing it as a ‘difficult one’.
Despite missing a first-half penalty, Oladapo drew Enyimba level with a long-range shot in the 40th minute – his third goal in as many games in the competition – as the People’s Elephant came from a goal down to beat the former African champions, with Tosin Omoyele sealing the win with a well-taken effort on the hour mark.
The win moved Fatai Osho’s side to the summit of Group A, with 6 points from 3 matches, one point above second-placed Orlando Pirates.
Speaking after the match, the former Kwara United star told www.busybuddiesng.com Enyimba were lucky not to have conceded more than a goal in the first half.
“It wasn’t an easy game for us,” he admitted. “You know the Setif side are very good. In the way they move the ball and the way they counter, they are very good.
“If not that we were lucky, they would have scored us more than two, three goals in the first half. But thank God; everything didn’t work to their favour.
“The game yesterday wasn’t easy, I must confess. It was a hard one, it was a difficult one.”
The Enyimba skipper added that he was not ‘discouraged’ by his penalty miss, which he said motivated him to do more to ensure his side won.
“Missing the penalty, I didn’t feel discouraged, I didn’t feel any guilt,” he said “You know great players do miss penalties.
“So, I only saw that miss as a morale-booster to me. I said ‘hey guy, you have missed it. Okay, what is next? You just have to deliver, you just to give your team hope that they will win today’.
“So, thank God, in the 40th minute I gave the team hope that we have to win (by equalizing), and at the end of the day, we got the important victory, which is important to us.”
Enyimba, Nigeria’s only surviving team on the continent this season, will face Setif in the reverse fixture on Sunday, 11 April in Algiers, as they continue their quest to become the first Nigerian club to claim the CAF Confederation Cup.
