The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Moses Orkuma

  • Namo, Orkuma tour Egypt with Ahly Benghazi for CS Sfaxien

    Namo, Orkuma tour Egypt with Ahly Benghazi for CS Sfaxien

    Nigerian duo of Victor Namo and Moses Orkuma are not leaving any stone unturned in their debut campaign of the CAF Champions League Group Stage with Libyan side Al Ahly Benghazi.

    Ahly Benghazi defeated top teams like Berekum Chelsea of Ghana and defending champions, Al Ahly of Egypt enroute to their maiden appearance in the group stage of the competition.

    The Libyan side toured Egypt for a week and only returned to Benghazi their home base on Monday to continue with the reminder of the league season.

    Describing their experience in Egypt, the ex-Flying Eagles’ defender, Moses Orkuma told SportingLife that they had many positive notes to take from their tour of Egypt and that the trip has kept them ready for the start of the group stage of the Champions League which begins on the weekend of May 16-18, 2014 with their road trip to CS Sfaxien of Tunisia.

    Orkuma also had kind words for his Nigerian compatriot, Namo who has not seen much playing time, praising him as a true gentleman amidst lack of regular play.

    “We went to Egypt and have returned to Benghazi to go and see through the remaining part of our league season. We spent a week in Egypt and played some local friendly matches. This has toughened us and has made us prepared for the start of the group stage. Everyone knows we are newcomers but I guess none will take us for granted after what we did to the defending champions.

    “We are awaiting the backlash from our opponents. We will be ready for CS Sfaxien of Tunisia and having known that area very well, we hope to come back with a good result when we face them in a fortnight,” Orkuma told SportingLife.

  • CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Namo, Orkuma win with Ahly Benghazi • Libyan side pummel Chadian foes 4-0 in Tunisia

    CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Namo, Orkuma win with Ahly Benghazi • Libyan side pummel Chadian foes 4-0 in Tunisia

    • Libyan side pummel Chadian foes 4-0 in Tunisia

    From Tunde Liadi,Owerri

    Nigerian duo of Victor Namo and Moses Orkuma savoured CAF Champions League victory with their Libyan club, Al Ahly Benghazi after the Arab side defeated Chadian, Foullah Edifice 4-0 in the preliminary round first leg played yesterday in Rades, Tunisia.

    Orkuma, formerly of Lobi Stars, joined Ahly Benghazi last year while Namo teamed up with the Libyan side some weeks ago after racing to the highest goals scorer award in the Nigeria Premier League last season.

    Ahly Benghazi had to play the initial leg away from their base because of the politicial instability in Libya and they are fancied to move ahead to the next round with the 4-0 victory.

    Speaking with SportingLife from Tunisia, Orkuma, who is a defender with the Arab side, said that his team dominated the tie and could have scored more goals barring poor marksmanship.

    He said they would return to Benghazi, Libya later today to start preparation for the second leg tie slated for Nd’jamena next week.

    “We just won our game 4-0. I played the entire 90 minutes and Victor Namo also played too. It was a sweet victory for us. We shall be going back to Libya tomorrow (today).

    “We will go for the second leg as if it was just our first game,” Orkuma said.

  • CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW Orkuma tips Ahly Benghazi over Chadian opponents •Former Lobi’s defender return to Libya

    CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW Orkuma tips Ahly Benghazi over Chadian opponents •Former Lobi’s defender return to Libya

    Moses Orkuma has had his yuletide break interrupted after he was told to report to Al Ahly Benghazi of Libya to complete his medical ahead of his club’s campaign in the 2014 CAF Champions League.

    Orkuma and his club placed first in the first stanza of the Libyan Premier League and thus gained a berth to represent the North Africans in the lucrative money-spinning club competition.

    Ahli Benghazi have been paired with Chad’s Foullah Edifice in the preliminary round of the competition and Orkuma’s club will host Edifice first in Libya in the weekend of February 7th-9th, 2014 while the second leg comes up a week later in the Chadian capital, NdJamena.

    Speaking with SportingLife from his base Orkuma said he is thrilled by the prospect of representing Ahli Benghazi in the Champions League after playing with his former club, Lobi Stars in the 2013 CAF Confederation Cup.

    He admitted a lack of information on their preliminary round opponents, Foullah Edifice but stressed that his club would do all within their power to ensure that they overcome the Chadians.

    “I heard we have been drawn to meet Foullah Edifice from Chad in the preliminary round. We are going to be ready for them. It won’t be easy but we will strive to beat them both home and away.

    “Everything is happening so fast barely few months after coming to Libya. I played for my former club, Lobi Stars in the CAF Confederation Cup just last season and this year, I’m playing in the Champions League for the first time. I give glory to God for all these feats,” Orkuma told SportingLife.

    Orkuma graduated from the renowned Lobi Feeder and was in the Flying Eagles’ team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey before he was sold to the Libyan side around August this year.

  • Okpotu, Orkuma thrilled with debuts for Libyan clubs

    Okpotu, Orkuma thrilled with debuts for Libyan clubs

    • Ex-Lobi stars help clubs to draw games

    The duo of Anthony Okpotu and Moses Orkuma who featured for Lobi Stars of Makurdi before seeking career abroad have expressed their delight at their debut games for their Libyan clubs last weekend.

    Okpotu was ushered in for his first game for giants, Al Ittihad Tripoli about 20 minutes to the end of the match in their 2-2 draw away to Al Shat while Orkuma who recently moved to Al Ahli Benghazi played 90 minutes in their 1-1 home draw to Olympic Zawiya.

    In separate chats with SportingLife from their respective base, both players expressed satisfaction with their start to life in Libya but they however said they were unhappy at the fact that they could not make a winning debut for their clubs.

    Okpotu stated that he would be looking forward to scoring his first goal when Ittihad welcome Tahaddy Benghazi this week Friday in the Matchday 2 tie.

    Orkuma’s Al Ahly Benghazi will visit Al Shat nest Monday in the continuation of the league season which commenced last week after about two years of inactivity occasioned by the political struggle then.

    “I am happy with my first game, on a personal note I felt fulfilled but as a team member I am sad that we could only pick a point from three, but we shall continue to fight on to ensure that we end the season well. We played 2-2 but I was not on the score’ chart, I am hoping to score my first goal on Friday when we play another league game,” Okpotu told SportingLife.

    Orkuma on his part was thrilled to play all 90 minutes but was left sad because the club couldn’t make home advantage count against their opponents, Olympic Zawiya. He said that they would bounce back at Al Shat on Monday.