The Super Eagles star could not hide his excitement after the Peoples Elephants secured their place in the knock out stage of the CAF second club competition
Enyimba’s star Anayo Iwuala has praised his teammates’ resilience after they beat Orlando Pirates to seal their place in the quarter-finals of the CAF Confederations cup.
Cyril Olisema’s goal in added time of the second half gave Enyimba a 1-0 win at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba on Wednesday night.
90+5 minutes…assist for the goal⚽️!! 💪🏾@EnyimbaFC We hustle hard today for this victory. What a way to qualify to the next stage and quarter-final. Thanks to the fans for the support 🙌🏾#DELEPHANT💙🦣💯🙏#DELEPHANT #AI17 #naijahustle #enyimbafc #TogetherForVictory #TotalCAFCC pic.twitter.com/0tgEGukZJx
— Anayo Emmanuel17 (@EmmanuelAnayo17) April 29, 2021
The win ensured Enyimba upstaged the South African side at the top of the Group A table to advance as group winners on head-to-head advantage.
Iwuala, who played all 90 minutes told Soccernet.ng that the team never gave up on their quest to overcome the Orlando Pirates despite running out of time.
He said that Olisema’s goal in added time was a gift to the team for their hard work and persistent attack against the South African opposition.
“I’m so delighted that we qualified to the quarter-final of the CAF Confederations Cup. It was a difficult game because Orlando Pirates made us worked so hard for the victory.
“The truth is the players didn’t give up on their dreams of defeating Orlando Pirates and I thank God that the goal came at the eleventh hour.
Iwuala has enjoyed a breakthrough season with the Aba Elephants and his good form caught the attention of Super Eagles boss Gernot Rohr who later handed him his debut this year.
The 22-year-old featured in Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers victories over Lesotho and the Benin Republic last month.
