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Kaduna
United and Sunshine Stars will be making debut appearances at
continental club championships today as they begin their CAF
Confederation Cup campaign against Chadian and Cameroonian oppositions
respectively.

For both teams
winning the trophy which no Nigerian team has won, since it became
Confederation Cup following the merging of the CAF Cup and Cup Winners
Cup is their target.

While Kaduna United
will be hosting Foullah Edifice at the Township stadium in Kaduna,
Sunshine Stars will be trading tackles with Tiko United at the Ijebu
Ode Stadium; a place that has become a fortress for the second placed
Nigerian team in the local league as they have won every match played
at the venue this season.

Harvest of goals

Gbenga Odubote,
Sunshine coach, who admits not knowing much about his opponents,
remains confident of victory in today’s game. According to him his
players are motivated to excel in today’s game.

“We are very much
ready for the game. The players know what is at stake and they have no
choice than to give in their best. Since it is a two -legged affair we
need to score as much goals as we can on Sunday so as to make the 2nd
leg a mere formality,” he said.

With Sunshine Stars
already targeting a harvest of goals against their opponent, the team
and league’s top scorer, Ajani Ibrahim has promised to wreck Tiko
United with goals.

“I am very
confident that I will score against Tiko United but I cannot say how
many goals they will be” he boasted. I am determined to take all the
chances that will come in my way,” said Ajani who currently top the
scorers chart in the local league with 10 league goals.

“Though this our
first time in the continent we are not afraid of any team. We want to
make our fans, management and the whole country proud by winning very
well on Sunday.”

Call for support

Sunshine Stars captain, Sunday Abe on his part called on fans to throng the Ijebu Ode stadium to support the team.

“I am using this
opportunity to call on football fans to come and support us in our
match. We are representing Nigeria in this championship and we promise
to do our very best,” he said.

Sadly for Sunshine
stars who are hoping for a sound victory, Ukeyima Akombo one of the
team’s top strikers has been ruled out of this tie due to illness.

Tiko United forced a 1-1 draw against Heartland in Owerri the last time they visited to play a Nigerian club.

Kaduna ready

In Kaduna also,
Federation Cup champions, Kaduna United are set for their tie with
current Chad league leaders, Foullah Edifice. The Chadian team are
currently enjoying the best of seasons as they are not just unbeaten so
far but have also won all their matches this season in the league.

Abdulrahman Tonga,
Media Officer of Kaduna United, said the team will not in any way
underrate the Chadians as they are actually aware of their exploits.

“Many may want to
believe that Foullah will be an easy task for us because they are from
Chad but we are not going to underrate them in anyway. We are well
prepared for them like a team from Egypt or Morocco,” he said.

Tonga also revealed that the state government and club management had moved to motivate players to excel.

“The government has
fully paid two months’ salary to the players from the backlog they are
being owed, other bonuses and allowances have also being paid. Already
they have been promised some mouth-watering gifts if they do well
also,” he said.

“There have been
jingles on radio and television; banners have been in strategic places
informing everybody about the match and I am confident that the stadium
will be filled to capacity. It’s the first time that we are having this
kind of match so all the people will want to be part of it,” he said.

Enyimba was Nigeria’s the last representative in the Confederation
Cup, but the former African champions were eliminated in the
preliminary stage of the competition by Zanaco of Zambia on goals
aggregate.