Enugu Rangers leave for Libreville, ready for AS Pelican

Enugu Rangers left Nigeria for Libreville yesterday ahead of their CAF Confederation Cup first leg, first round encounter with Association Sportive Pelican in the Gabonese capital.The game with AS Pelican, who finished second in the 2019 Gabon Championnat National Division 1, will hold tomorrow.

The 25-man delegation, comprising 18 players and seven officials, led by Rangers’ General Manager, Prince Davidson Owumi, left Enugu aboard an
Asky Airline for Libreville. They are expected back in Nigeria on Sunday.Speaking ahead of the game, Rangers players and officials expressed optimism of coming out of Libreville unscathed, saying their ambition is to win this competition this term.

Rangers recently acquired some experienced campaigners ahead of this season, with former Enyimba midfielder among the pack.Others are Uche John, Nnamdi Egbujuo, Obinna Eleje, Ifeanyi George and Tony Shimaga. Also in the squad are Isiaka Oladuntoye and Senegalese international, Pape Ousmane Sane.

Prior to this game, Rangers played and won 11 pre-season games, and lost one. They were camped in the serene Nanka community of Orumba-North LGA of Anambra State, where they also had some tune up games.Speaking on the match, Coach Ben Ugwu said, “I have a strong belief that with the talents at our disposal and the training regime we have gone through in the pre-season, we shall come back with a good result by God’s
grace.

“We don’t know much of our opponents but our preparations have always been ready to play against any opponent. Surely, it won’t be easy as there are no more ‘small’ teams in the game. They did well in the preliminary round but I believe that we have all it takes to stop them in this round.”

Also speaking on the match, Ibenegbu said, “We are not going to Libreville
to watch the beauty of the city but to ensure we get a good result that will make the return leg in two weeks time a mere formality.

“As a new player in Rangers, I hope to bring my experience of playing on the continent for over a decade to bear, if selected by the coach, to help us achieve our set target for the season. “Rangers is a very big team in the continent and my joining them is to contribute my little quota towards making it a continental champion again after over four decades.”