El-Kanemi Warriors goalkeeper George Abine remains confident that the club will progress to the next round of the CAF Confederation Cup despite playing their first leg at an adopted home ground in Ikenne, Ogun State, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The 2024 Federation Cup champions will face Dadje FC of Benin Republic on Saturday at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne after their home ground in Maiduguri didn’t meet up with CAF accreditation standards.
El-Kanemi picked the second CAF Confederation Cup ticket by beating Abia Warriors 2-0 in the final of the President Federation Cup in Lagos in June.
Nasiru Salihu scored both goals to seal El-Kanemi’s third title just as they returned to the Nigeria Premier Football League.
As they make their return to the top flight, they also have to navigate the tough continental preliminaries, and Abine, who were instrumental to their Federation Cup win, believes playing in Ikenne won’t affect them.
“We actually won the FA Cup far away from home, and the culture of the team is anywhere is our home,” the goalkeeper told PUNCH Sports Extra.
“Since we arrived in Ikenne, the atmosphere has been good, and we have been having very intense training sessions.”
The goalkeeper kept five clean sheets and conceded just one goal to help the club with the title.
During the FA Cup final at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos, El-Kanemi Warriors enjoyed a huge presence of their fans who are residents of Lagos, and Abine believes they will benefit from that gesture once again.
“We were very impressed by their turnout during the FA Cup, and we didn’t disappoint them. I urge them to come out again and support us in Ikenne and I believe that Nigerian fans generally will be behind us.”
After the first leg in Ikenne on Saturday, the team will head to Benin Republic for the return leg, while another test against former champions RS Berkane of Morocco awaits them in the next round.
Nine-time Nigerian champions Enyimba are also campaigning in the CAF Confederation Cup but were exempted from the first round of the preliminary rounds as one of the highest-ranked teams in the competition and will be waiting to face the winners between Haifa (Guinea) vs. Rahimo (Burkina Faso) to reach the group stage.
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