Nigeria champions, Enyimba International will start their campaign for a third CAF Champions League title with a Preliminary Round first leg clash against Rahimo of Burkina Faso, this weekend in Ouagadougou, Completesports.com reports.
The people’s Elephant are scheduled to depart the shores of Nigeria Thursday August 8, through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
The first leg tie is slated for Saturday August 10 with the reverse fixture billed for Aba, Abia State, August 18.
This year’s campaign will mark Enyimba’s 10th appearance in the continent’s premier inter club championship.
Winners in 2003 and 2004, Enyimba’s traveling contingent will leave Aba for Lagos on Wednesday ahead of their flight on Thursday.
Completesports.com reports that for the first time in their ten CAF Champions League campaigns, Enyimba’s did not relocate to a concentration camp ahead of the competition.
The players have been at their Aba home ground preparing for the new season.
“We decided to keep the team in Aba for preparation towards the continental and domestic campaigns this term,” an official told Completesports.com.
“Firstly, time is short. We will waste some training sessions traveling to or back from training camp because of the time constraints.
“And again, we have quite a handful of new players. So we want them to stay in Aba, train, familiarise with the environment and people, especially our fans, and also learn and assimilate the ‘Enyimba Spirit’. And so far, the players are responding in this regard.”
By Sab Osuji
