Although Nigeria flagbearers, Rangers found it relatively easy overpowering Ethiopia’s Defence Force in the CAF Confederation Cup, it is envisaged that the challenge from Algeria’s Union Sportive Medinat Bel Abbes (USMBA) will be stiffer when they clash this weekend.
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Only last month, Rangers completed a double with a 2-0 home win and 3-1 away win against Defence FC of Ethiopia in the Preliminary Round which came on the back of that stunning AITEO Cup win on penalties when they overcame a 3-0 deficit to tie scores at 3-3 at the expense of Kano Pillars to qualify for this year’s CAF Confederation Cup.
“Our comeback in some recent matches is not a question of strategy rather we always play to our strength,” Rangers’ coach Gbenga Ogunbote told cafonline.com
“We sometimes conceded cheap goals but we don’t give up easily especially when we realise that we are better than the opposing team.
“I feel very great after winning both the home and away match against Defence FC of Ethiopia in the last round. After the first leg, there were criticisms here that we didn’t play well. “But we went over there (Addis Ababa) for the second leg and got an away win. These victories home and away confirmed our superiority and I want to give thanks to God for that.”
Yet speaking against the background of recent poor performances of many Nigerian clubs on the continent, Ogunbote surmised Rangers must show sterner stuff against USMBA who easily dismissed Lisor FC of Liberia 4-1 on aggregate last month.
“Though many Nigerian teams have not done well against North African teams recently, I believe there’s always a turnaround in life,” noted Ogunbote who lost narrowly to Club Africain of Tunisia at the semi-final stage of the2011 CAF Confederation Cup during his spell in charge of Sunshine Stars of Akure.
“We need to work harder in order to get very far in this competition; we shall do our best and make sure that they (USMBA) do not stop us at this stage.”