CAF CL: Fidelis Ilechukwu expresses concern over Enugu Rangers’ quality of play

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Head coach of Rangers International, Fidelis Ilechukwu has expressed concerns over the quality of play by his team after a 2-1 aggregate win over US Zilimadjou from Comoros Island in the first Preliminary Round of the CAF Champions League.

The 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions scored two goals and conceded one over two legs against US Zilimadjou despite playing two legs at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.

The former MFM FC coach said he is not particularly satisfied even though they have qualified for the next round.

“To me, it is quite disappointing. The fans are not happy but I believe in the team,” Ilechukwu told Brila FM.

“I told them that this is a team representing Nigeria, but in the past month, we had few games and did not have enough pre-season games, which is also part of the challenges we have.”

With the 2024/2025 NPFL set to get underway before the next stage in the CAF Champions League, Ilechukwu hopes his players can get back to form and shape.

“With time, maybe one or two NPFL games will help them come back to shape.” He continued.

“Before this game, we did a lot of work in converting chances, thinking that we could score many goals, but we couldn’t apart from the penalty. I think we will go back home. I don’t want to talk about the players we have lost after winning the league title. The only thing is to make use of the ones we have now and work towards getting to the group stage.”

Nigeria has two representatives on the continent after the ouster of Remo Stars (CAF Champions League) and El-Kanemi Warriors (CAF Confederation Cup) in the first Preliminary Round.

Rangers International and Enyimba FC will continue to fly the country’s flag in the two CAF Inter Club competitions.