Enyimba captain Austin Oladapo has called on his teammates to seize the “very big opportunity” of a quarterfinal tussle with Egypt’s Pyramid FC to “sell us out and give us a name”.
The People’s Elephants, who reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2018, are guests of last season’s finalists Pyramids for the first-leg at the 30 June Air Defence Stadium, Cairo.
Fatai Osho’s side aren’t in the greatest of form having not won in three matches and their record away against North African teams doesn’t inspire plenty of confidence either.
Enyimba last achieved a result of any kind against North African opposition away from home in CAF competitions in 2011 when they beat Sudanese side Al Hilal Omdurman in the Champions League group stage.
The Aba side has, however, failed to muster even a draw at North African sides in the Confederation Cup and they lost both of their matches at Al-Ahli Benghazi and ES Setif in the group stage of this season’s competition.
Oladapo, however, isn’t weighed down with what transpired in the past, insisting that the two-time African champions are “not going to be looking down on ourselves” despite facing a daunting task against one of Egypt’s best sides.
The Enyimba captain believes that having made the last-16 from what he describes as the “hardest group”, the Peoples Elephants can again defy expectations against Pyramids.
And Oladapo believes there could be no bigger stage for Enyimba’s players to write their name in gold.
“I think Pyramids are a very big team, good team, I’ve watched them play, even in this Confederations Cup in the group stage. I’ve watched them play in their league. I think they are a very good team and a very big team that has money and know what the game is all about,” he said.
“I think at this stage we are, we’re not going to be looking down on ourselves as Enyimba Football Club. We have done well for ourselves, even in the group stages where people felt we could not scale through to the quarter final. I think our group was the hardest group, and God brought us out of the group.
“I think playing Pyramids is going to be a very big game. It’s going to be a very big opportunity for us. It’s going to be a game that will sell us out and give us a name.”
