Still unbeaten in the ongoing 2018/2019 CAF Confederations Cup head coach of high Flying Engugu Rangers Gbenga Ogunbote has revealed that the newfound winning mentality in the team was instrumental in the club getting a draw against highly fancied CS Sfaxien on Wednesday in Tunisia.
Enugu Rangers played out a 1 – 1 draw against their more illustrious North African opponents a day after Nigeria’s other continental campaigners Lobi Stars held Wydad Casablanca to a goalless draw in Morocco in a CAF Champions League fixture.
Head coach of the team Olugbenga Ogunbote has praised the character of his boys in such a difficult game where they played against their opponent, the weather and thousands of fans. “It was a good game; no one expected it to be easy. We were playing against a team that has won the CAF Confederation Cup before. We thought it would be more difficult. The winning mentality exists in our team.”
The Tunisian team took the lead in the 71st minute through Alaa Marzouki but the Enugu based team responded immediately with an equalizer in the 73rd minute through Beninois defender Ousmane Pape Sane who slammed the ball into the net from a Bobby Clements parried header.
Gbenga Ogunbote noted that the winning spirit in them kicked in the moment they conceded and they resolved they were not going to lose. “The moment we conceded, we knew that we cannot lose to CS Sfaxien. You say Rangers, you never say die. We managed to take back home one point and that’s a positive result.”
Enugu Rangers’ next fixture in the CAF Confederations Cup is a return trip to Tunisia to face third-placed Etoile du Sahel on the 24th of February. The Nigerian side with the result stays top of the CAF Confederations Cup group B on four points.
