Nigeria’s remaining representative in the
year’s CAF club competitions, Warri Wolves have been drawn to play Congolese
side AC Leopards de Dolisie in the Round of 16 of the Confederation Cup. The
draws were made in the CAF headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday.
This stage of the Confederation cup
is the last round before the group stages proper.
The first leg of the tie will be
played in Congo
between May 15 and 17, while the second leg comes up in Warri on the weekend of
June 5 and 7.
Paul Aigbogun’s side eliminated
MK Etancheite from the Democratic Republic of Congo last weekend in the last
round of the CAF Confederation cup. A goal from Etebo Oghenekaro in Kinshasa sealed a 0-1
victory for the Warri based side, to advance 3-1 on aggregate.
The Nigerian Premier League side are
undefeated in the year’s Confederations Cup. So far they have played six
matches, with five wins and a draw. Having made trips to Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and DR Congo in the
previous rounds.
Warri Wolves are playing in the
round of 16 for the first time, having failed to make this stage of the
competition in two previous attempts.
With the team being Nigeria’s sole
representative left on the continent this year after the trio of Kano Pillars,
Enyimba and Dolphins were eliminated in earlier rounds of the CAF Champions
League and Confederations Cup respectively. Nigerians will be willing them on,
as they bid to make the group stages of the Confederations Cup for the first
time.
Fans of Warri Wolves would be
delighted with the draws, as they have avoided big guns in Esperance and Al-Ahly
who were eliminated from the last round of the CAF Champions League.
While the
draw would have been welcomed by the Warri Wolves faithful, they would still
have to do the business on the pitch as AS Leopards are no pushovers themselves
as they were champions of Congo
in 2013.
Gbolahan Salami will once again lead
the charge of Warri Wolves as they seek to secure passage to the group
stages. For now though, attention shifts to league matters before the first leg
next weekend.
Photo Credit: CAF/Wikipedia