Abdallah on cloud nine over Rayon Sports victory

Enyimba International technical adviser, Usman Abdallah has said he is on cloud nine over his team’s resounding victory over Rayon Sports.

The two-time African champions on Sunday defeated Rayon Sports of Rwanda 5-1 in the return leg of the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final to reach the semi-finals.

The people’s elephants also made history with the big scoreline as they had never won a match in the continent by such a margin.

Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, the coach said he was really excited to be part of the history that was made by Enyimba.

Abdallah said he was not surprised by the number of goals his side scored against Rayon Sports because he had done more work on his strikers.

He said after the first leg which ended 0-0 in Kigali, he returned to the drawing board with his players and his tactical emphasis was on goal scoring.

The former Kano Pillars assistant coach said even when Rayon Sports cancelled out Enyimba’s first goal almost immediately, he wasn’t perturbed because he knew his boys would do the job.

“I am a happy coach because this is the first time Enyimba have achieved such a big scoreline in the continent.

“It is good to be part of history that is positive. We worked for the result so it didn’t come to me as a surprise. After our first leg, we returned home to study our opponents’ defensive formation and we were able to come up with a superior strategy to break them down in the return leg.

“I commend my players for a job well done. However, we are not going to rest on our oars. There are still many hurdles to surmount before we celebrate,” he said.

Enyimba will meet RAJA Club Athletic of Morocco in the first leg of their semi-final pairing on October 2 in Aba.