Plateau, Akwa United set for Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel, Libya’s Al-Ittihad

Nigerian champion, Plateau United will face its toughest task yet in the on-going CAF Champions League when it meets former winners, Etoile du Sahel in Sousse today.

Football fans, who followed Enyimba’s triumphs in the competition in 2003 and 2004, will remember the battles the Peoples Elephant had with Etoile on its way to the titles. Since then, Etoile du Sahel has gone on to win the competition once in 2007 and been runners up once, while no
Nigerian club has gone as far as the final.

Plateau United has the advantage of hosting the last leg of the tie, but that would be meaningful if it gets a good result in the away leg today. The match will kick off by 6.00 p.m. Tunisian time.

Buoyed by his team’s success in a midweek NPFL game against Enugu Rangers in Jos shortly before the team left for Tunisia, Plateau United head coach, Kennedy Boboye says his side is oozing with confidence after the win.

He said the win was a morale booster for the reigning NPFL champions ahead of their continental engagement.

“It was a tough game against a highly tactical team that came here to play for a draw but we are happy that we got our three points at the end of the day,” he said.

“The win is very important to us even as we go into the next round of our continental matches knowing that we are at the top of the league.”

Plateau is placed third on the NPFL standings having accumulated 18 points from nine games.

Another Nigerian team hopeful of success in the continent this term is Akwa United, which will take on Libya’s Al-Ittihad in Sfax, Tunisia tomorrow.

Libyan teams play in Tunisia due to the crisis in their country.

The Akwa United squad comprising 18 players and 12 officials departed Ibom International Airport on Sunday afternoon on board Dana Air to Lagos from where they proceeded to Tunisia for the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup first round match against Al-Ittihad of Libya.