The Nigeria Professional League is arguably the best on the continent but this has not translated to success on the African scene in the Caf club competitions, the Caf Champion League and Caf Confederations Cup. The last time a Nigeria club qualified for the knockout stage of the money spinning Caf Champions League was in 2009, when the duo of Heartland and Kano Pillars defied all odds to progress to the semis. Heartland later dumped out Kano Pillars, but went on to lose in the finals to Congolese giants TP Mazembe. Only Sunshine Stars and Enyimba have managed to get into the group stages of the Caf Champions League after the 2009 heroics with the duo failing to progress into the knockout stage.

The Caf Confederations Cup tells the same story. In the last Eight( years only Rivers United have managed to enter into the group stage of Africa's second(2) tier club football competition. They did so in 2017, and having started well, they failed to progress into the knockouts after finishing last. The last Nigerian team to play in the finals of the Caf Confederations Cup was the defunct Dolphins now Rivers United in 2006, they lost to Morrocan giants FUS Rabat 3-1 on aggregate.

Nigerian Champions, Plateau United and runners up, Mfm would be flying the nation's flag in the Caf Champions League, while the duo of Akwa United and Enyimba would be play in the Caf Confederations Cup. Plateau United would face a daunting tie in Cameroonian Champions Ending Sport in the first round of qualifiers, while Mfm would take on AS Bamako of Mali in a mouth watering tie. In the Caf Confederations Cup Akwa face Gambian team Banjul while Enyimba were given a bye.

All hands must be on deck to check the abysmal run of Nigerian clubs on the continent. The players, the coaches, the management of the teams, the League management company as well as the NFF must work harder and ensure Nigeria's name be written in gold and the glory days revisited.

©dhabrite

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