9 May 2011
Nigerian clubs Enyimba and Sunshine Stars at the weekend shot to the next round of the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, respectively.
Enyimba pipped hard-fighting Al-Ittihad of Libya 1-0 courtesy of a victor Barnabas penalty goal after 70 minutes to qualify for the money-spinning stage of the Champions League.
The two-time African champions thus joined defending champions TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Mouloudia Alger (Algeria)and Raja Casablanca (Morocco) in the mini-league phase of the continents foremost club competition.
Philip Auta forced a save from the Ittihad goalkeeper and Barnabas caused the penalty when he was upended inside the box on his way to tuck away the rebound.
It was a very difficult game. They were defensive and very tactical, admitted Auta after the match watched by a capacity crowd at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba.
Star defender Nnaemeka Anyanwu failed to recover from an injury he suffered in the build-up to this encounter and so Enyimba paraded a new central defensive pair of Chinedu Udoji and Ekene Iwuorie.
In Burkina Faso, Sunshine Stars fell 1-0 to army team USFA to reach the fourth round of the Confederation on a 2-1 aggregate after they had won the first leg 2-0 in Ijebu-Ode.
Nigerias other flag bearers in the anual competition, Kaduna United, walked over Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia to also advance to final qualifying round.
