CAF Champions League: Enyimba will play for pride against Sundowns –Anaezemba

Midfielder, Nzube Anaezemba says Enyimba will play for pride today at the Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt when the team takes on Mamelodi Sundowns in a last group game of the CAF Champions League.

The match remains a formality to the People’s Elephant as Sundowns and Zamalek of Egypt have already grabbed the two semi-final slots in the group.

Sundowns with an unbeaten run in the lucrative group stage, had in the first leg in June in Pretoria clinched a 2-1 victory and a defeat by the Pitso Mosimane men today in the Garden City means little or nothing.

“We have to redeem our image. Yes there’s nothing at stake but winning this remaining game is the least we can give our fans now. Enyimba can’t play in the group stages and not win any match. It’s not possible. Sundowns are a very good team but if they are thinking of coming here to beat us, they should forget it,” he told SuperSport.com.

Anaezemba also hopes that a good result in today’s clash can be the adrenaline shot that spurs the club to a good finish this season.

“Winning (today) will help our belief. There’s nothing at stake except our pride but remember we have our own League matches here to play. We just have to win the game because the more you win games, the more it helps your confidence as a team. Enyimba wins trophies every season and a win on Tuesday will boost us ahead of our remaining games,” he added.

Anaezemba stated that this season has been an eventful one for the two-time African champions even on the domestic scenes.

“Our performance has not been good at all. Not winning any matches in the group stage and having bad results in so many games, is unlike Enyimba. I can’t even tell exactly what was wrong with us this year. We have a lot of good players. Since I joined the club, we have never had players as good as this current squad so it’s difficult to say exactly what was wrong this season. Nobody is happy about it. But it’s left for us to get ourselves back,” the diminutive player said.