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By Abiodun Adewale
Enyimba coach Finidi George has refused to comment on his ‘bench ban’ in Sunday’s CAF Champions League first round game at Al Ahly Benghazi.
The former Super Eagles winger and his assistant Yemi Olanrewaju as the two-time African champions threw away an early lead to lost 4-3 to hosts Al Ahly.
While several reports stated that the UEFA Champions League winner with Ajax in 1995 and his assistant were barred from the bench by the Confederation of African for not having the prerequisite CAF coaching licenses, Finidi declined to comment on the issue.
When our correspondent asked him the reason he wasn’t on the bench, Finidi replied, “I will not want to put more fuel in this burning issue.”
The gaffer, who watched from the stands in Benghazi on Sunday, however said his team should have done better with their defending, noting that they would bounce back in the return leg.
“It was a good game to watch but it was unfortunate we conceded those goals, but we will bounce back this Sunday,” Finidi told PUNCH Sports Extra.
“Even if we were not there, I felt we should have defended better. We have an opportunity to rectify things in Aba when we play the second leg. We will be much better defensively next match,” he added.
The Nigeria Professional Football League champions scored first through striker Victor Mbaoma, but they had to fight back twice to restore parity in the game, before losing 4-3 at the death.
Mbaoma is also optimistic he and his teammates would do enough to emerge winners and qualify for the next round in the second leg.
“We are not satisfied but we need to be happy with ourselves and look forward to the next leg. They have played and won at home, now it’s time for us to go home and play with our fans and show them what we too can do.”
The striker also rued missed chances for their loss and admitted the Al Ahly fans made the atmosphere unconducive for them.
“North Africa is a tough region and in matches like this their fans make the atmosphere very intimidating, but we stuck to our game plan and who knows, we might have won outrightly had we converted most of our chances.”
Having lost the first legs by a goal margin each, Enyimba and Remo Stars must win the second leg by at least two-goal margin to be sure of progressing into the next round.
Unlike the previous seasons when teams dropped from the CAF Champions League to the Confederation Cup, there will be no place in the second tier for teams eliminated in the Champions League.