Despite standing no chance of progressing from the group stage, Enyimba head coach Fatai Osho has said that CAF Confederation Cup opponents FC San Pedro still have pride to play for at the Stade FHB in Abidjan tomorrow.
Osho’s Enyimba are up against group D’s bottom side in their final match of the phase with sight set on picking the group’s second quarter-final ticket.
While the Ivorians are already eliminated from the competition following an indifferent run that has seen them manage just three points from five matches, Enyimba need only a point to confirm progress to the last eight.
Osho squashed insinuations that the fixture against the already eliminated Ivorian side would be a mere formality.
“San Pedro as out of the competition and they stand to lose absolutely nothing, and when you’re playing with no pressure on you, some teams tend to play better and that’s why we have to be careful. We have to really bring in our A-game to get the needed result.
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“It won’t be an easy match. They have their honour to play for and they want to do well in front of their fans. They’ve not been doing too well at home and I see a situation where they will want to turn the table.
“Anything short of a draw could be costly for Enyimba, and when you need a draw like that you’ve got to go for a win, but if you actually plan to get a draw you might end up losing it altogether. So the orientation is for the players to go all out for victory, which is the normal thing in football.
“We want our destiny to be in our own hand. We don’t want to start monitoring what is happening (in the group’s other game) in Agadir. If we can get our result in Abidjan, regardless of what happens in Agadir we will be safe, we will be home and dry. And that’s exactly what we need to do and that’s what we are preaching to the players.”
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