2024 CAF Women’s Champions League: Moses Aduku reveals Edo Queens greatest assets ahead of TP Mazembe clash

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

With a few hours to their decisive semi-final clash with TP Mazembe at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League, the head coach of Edo Queens has opened up on what has taken his team so far at the tournament.

After three games, Aduku’s side has broken lots of records set by Bayelsa Queens which finished third in 2022.

They have kept consecutive clean sheets in their first two games against Commerical Bank of Ethiopia FC (3-0) and FC Masar (0-0).

They also ended Mamelodi Sundowns Lady’s dominance against Nigerian teams at the tournament with a stunning 2-1 win to top Group B and booked a spot in the semifinals with seven points, the highest by any Nigerian team at the tournament.

When asked about the team’s greatest assets, the former Bayelsa Queens coach said: “I think my players play to instructions. Dish out instructions and they take them. If you watched the South African game, we come with two game plans. If the players were not listening to instructions, the first one was not working, so we had to switch to the second one. Players listening to instructions is one of our greatest assets. When you see us doing substitutions, you see the same energy. They obey instructions. That is what has taken us this far.”

While speaking with journalists during the pre-match press conference leading to Tuesday’s semi-final clash, Aduku asserted that the focus now is to get to the final to win Nigeria’s first women’s club continental title.

“We want to thank God first and foremost for taking us this far. The last game was not an easy one, winning at the last minute, and we are through to the semis for the first time, but one game at a time,” He added.

Moses Aduku

“This is the fourth game we will approach the same way. Correct our mistakes at the same time, what we do well, we improve on it. We are good to go. The players are good to go. Everybody is ready. 90 minutes to decide who wins.

“The reason we are here is to play and the girls are playing. So far, so good. We are happy but not satisfied yet in terms of something to win now, which is the trophy, not qualification again. We are going to put in our best to see how we can cross this stage.”

This will be the second time that a Nigeria club will be meeting TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo at the competition.

Goals from Ogoma Joseph and Chinyere Igboamalu lifted Bayelsa Queens to a 2-0 win against TP Mazembe in their second Group B encounter in 2022.

“Very good team. Not just the alone. Every team that came here is good, a champion but I respect them. When it comes to the game proper, the best team will take the day and I want to believe we have watched them and they have also watched us. We will see what happens after 90 minutes,” Aduku continued.

“The mindset we came with is to take one game at a time. We have gone three. This is the fourth one. Our target now is the cup but we must go through this one first. 90 minutes for this one before we begin to talk about the cup but the mindset is one game at a time.”

Since the inception of the tournament in 2021, a team from West Africa Zone B (WAFU-B) has never won the title.

Hasaacas Ladies from Ghana reached the final of the maiden edition but lost 2-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (South Africa) in 2021 thanks to goals from Chuene Precious Morifi and Andisiwe Mgcoyi.

That was the zone’s best performance before Bayelsa Queens’ third-place finish in 2022.

“There is pressure because our zone has not gotten the cup before. We have gotten the third position but the pressure is not affecting us because this is our business. The important thing is for us to do our business well. They are expecting something from us so we will try and give it to them.” He concluded.

A win for Edo Queens on Tuesday will equal the WAFU-B record at the CAF Women’s Champions League, and winning the title next weekend will make the Benin City-based side the best women’s football team from West Africa.