Nigeria’s sole remaining candidate in Confederation of African Football (CAF) inter-club competitions, Enyimba of Aba, yesterday ran into bad weather in Cairo, Egypt, where they lost 1-4 to Pyramids in the first leg of their Confederation Cup quarterfinal tie.
The Aba side raised their fans’ hopes of a good outing in the city of the Pharaohs when they raced to the lead in the first minute of the game though Victor Mbaoma. But that lead lasted for only 15 minutes when the Egyptians equalised through former Al Ahli young star, Ramadan Sobhi.
The first half ended 1-1.
However, the second half was less than five minutes when Farouk Salama put Pyramids 2-1 ahead, while two quick goals by Ibrahim Hassan in the 58th minute and 67th minutes made scores 4-1.
Enyimba had goalkeeper John Noble to thank for keeping the hosts at bay after the fourth goal, as the Egyptians swarmed all over the Nigerians in search of more goals to make the return leg in Aba more of a formality.
To stem the tide, Enyimba Coach, Fatai Osho, made three quick changes in the 71st minute when he brought in Abiodun Adebayo for Hassan Abubakar, Cyril Olisema for Tosin Omoyele and Dayo Ojo for Dare Olatunji.
The changes, while it did not alter the final outcome of the game, helped the Peoples Elephant to stop their hosts from scoring more goals.
The decisive leg of the tie will hold in Aba on May 23.