As the top club in Nigeria, Enyimba were expected to do better than the quarter-final elimination they endured in the inaugural edition of the African Football League (AFL).
The Nigerian club was knocked out in the first stage of competition after a humiliating 4-0 loss to Waydad Casablanca of Morocco.
By losing 0-1 at home to Wydad Casablanca in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the African Football League, Enyimba seriously jeopardized their chances of qualifying for the next stage of the competition.
As expected, the return match at the the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca ended 3-0 in favor of the Moroccan club.
The two-time winner of the CAF Champions League (2003 and 2004) was logically out of the competition, without really shining (0 goals scored, 4 conceded), also going on a fourth confrontation without success against the Moroccan club.
This double defeat against the Moroccan giants was inevitably a hard pill to swallow for the supporters of the “Peoples’ Elephant” who were hoping to see their team roar in this competition.
This failure was not surprising, however, given the club’s disastrous start to the season, having already been eliminated in the first preliminary round of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League by Libya’s Al Ahly Benghazi.
Defeated 4-3 in the first leg in Libya, Enyimba did no better than a goalless draw at home in the second leg. In the league, they also got off to a slow start as they started with a defeat at Gombe United Football Club (2-0) before recovering on the second day, 3-2 against Akwa United Football Club (3-2).
Also, the momentary absence of coach George Finidi during the last turn of the preparation for this competition, must also have contributed to this poor result.
The technician was on a training camp with the Super Eagles, of which he is one of the assistant coaches, in view of the two friendly matches of the October international break against Saudi Arabia (2-2) and Mozambique (3-2), on October 13 and 16, 2023 in Portugal.
So far, the team is still struggling to get back on track. Even though they have two games in hand in the NPFL, they are placed 16th with only 10 points taken in 7 games (3 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses). The reigning Nigerian champions urgently need to find their feet to avoid a total rout.
