TheCable

Fatai Osho, head coach of Enyimba, says the people’s elephant are capable of winning the 2021 CAF Confederation Cup trophy.

In a chat with TheCable, Osho said having won the CAF Champions League in 2003 and 2004, his team have what it takes to add the Confederation Cup to their trophy cabinet.

“In terms of being a contender rather than a participant, we will see ourselves as a contender for the trophy,” Osho told TheCable.

“Yes, we can win the competition for the first time because if you cancel yourself out, somebody else will rise up and pick up the trophy.

“This team has the potential to go all the way and we are not an exception. We also strongly believe that we have all it takes to go all the way. But we want to see how we can pick it from the first match to the last one in the group stage.”

The former Remo Stars gaffer also admitted that it was a great disappointment for the Aba-based side to have been knocked out of the Champions League during the preliminary stage.

“We had a discussion when preparing for the Champions League, that we had no business in the Confed Cup. But here we are, at the Confed Cup. But sometimes, in getting things done, maybe we need to add the Confederation Cup to our cabinet,” he said.

“Yes, that was a big disappointment for dropping down from the Champions League to the Confederation Cup level.”

Osho also noted that despite been pooled in a tough group, his side will excel to the knockout round.

The draw for the 2021 CAF Confederation Cup held in Cairo on Monday with Enyimba and three other African Champions in group A.

“In all honesty, all the teams in our group have an equal chance of getting out to the knock-out stage based on the pedigree they have,” Osho added.

“That is the toughest group in the competition. It will be very difficult to pick out possible qualifiers to go to the knock-out round.

“Benghazi have been consistent for some time now. They have always been a regular representative of Libya and we know what Orlando Pirates mean at the level of the continent.

“And I think Setif are former Champions League winner just like Enyimba too. We were former champion twice.

“What is important is for us [Enyimba] is to pick our matches one after the other. We can then now pick it from there.”

Enyimba were semi-finalists in 2018 and in the last 8 of the CAF Confederation Cup in 2020.

They will kick off their campaign with a home tie against Al Ahly Benghazi on March 10, before facing Orlando Pirates and Entente Setif.