By Onyekachi Chimezie
Coach Fidelis Ilechukwu, Plateau United Football Club of Jos’ technical adviser, says his club is striving to advance to the CAF Confederation Cup group stage.
Ilechukwu, who bemoaned his club’s controversial CAF Champions League elimination at the hands of four-time champion Esperance of Tunisia, explained that his team has moved past the unfortunate incident and looking forward to a strong performance against Al-Akhder of Libya in the upcoming CAF Confederation Cup play-offs on Wednesday at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
“We know the importance of this game and we also understand the reason why we did not make it to the group stage of the CAF Champions League. It’s very painful for us, but we have put that behind us to enable face the future which is this game, Ilechukwu said.
The former Heartland of Owerri Coach, who emphasizes the value of scoring a lot of goals at home, claimed that the technical staff is working hard in every area of the team to score the vital goals—something they were unable to do against Esperance, which was a major factor in their elimination from the CAF Champions League—in order to make the second leg in Tripoli a formality.
He praised the governor Simon Lalong for his unwavering support of the team as well as the management of the team, led by Pius Henwan and Technical Director Coach Ahmed Ibrahim, for placing the team’s well-being first.
Al-Akhder of Libya, Plateau United’s opponents in Wednesday’s CAF Confederations Cup play-offs, has arrived in Abuja in advance of the encounter.
The 47-man team, which included players, coaches, and other backroom staff, arrived with food, water, and a chef early on Sunday morning at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
