The Interview Editors
With the country’s representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Rangers already in Tunisia to take on Club Sportif Sfaxien, the team manager of the seven-time Nigeria Professional Football League winner, Amobi Ezeaku, says the target of the club is to win the CAF Confederation Cup. Excerpt…
Rangers won first game against Salitas of Burkina Faso, but you will be facing your first big test against CS Sfaxien on Wednesday, what’s the expectation?
We are going to Tunisia like we have been doing since the start of the competition. The target is victory and the players are in right frame of mind for the battle ahead.
What can you say about the quality of opposition in your group, Etoile du Sahel and CS Sfaxien from Tunisia and Salitas of Burkina Faso?
It is relatively a tough group and the four teams are big clubs. It is time to respect one another and it is also time to be careful while also being tactically disciplined.
I have the belief that Rangers will come out of that group and we will make progress. We are not just playing as Rangers, we are representatives of Nigeria so we know what is at stake and we have to give in our best so that we make sure that we qualify from the group.
The target of every club in this CAF Confederations Cup is to lift the trophy; the target of Rangers FC is to lift the trophy and it is possible.
Are you saying Rangers are not afraid of any club in the group?
We are not because we will take each game as it comes. We understand the fact that the other clubs are big but then we must take each game as it comes because we’ve played against big clubs in the past, the Algerian giants and now we have two clubs from Tunisia and one from Burkina Faso.
In as much as we respect them, we will also try and keep our heads down and be tactically disciplined. We did that against Salitas and we are going to do same in Tunisia.
Are you saying that Rangers will progress from that group?
Yes, I am optimistic. We will.
Apart from making it from the group; what is the target of your club for the championship?
The target of every club in this CAF Confederations Cup is to lift the trophy; the target of Rangers FC is to lift the trophy and it is possible.
We are not just playing as Rangers, we are representatives of Nigeria so we know what is at stake and we have to give in our best so that we make sure that we qualify from the group.
So to what can you ascribe Rangers’ performance in the CAF Confederation Cup?
First, we thank God for where we are today, and let me quickly say it is all about the players and deciding that we have to be dedicated and disciplined. In a nut shell, it’s about hard work, it’s about dedication and it’s about total commitment from every department of the club.
So would you say you are satisfied with the performance of the club in the competition?
Of course we are satisfied because we are in the group stage. We played about three games against three tough opponents before we could get into the group stage.
Remember we played against Defense FC of Ethiopia, played against the USMBA of Algeria and we played against the Bantu FC of Lesotho, tough club sides but we have been able to get to the group stage. So, I am satisfied and I know the majority of the club supporters are satisfied, especially after starting the group stage on a winning note.
