Effiong ready to help Akwa Utd make mark on continent

Akwa United captain Otobong Effiong has set his sight on a successful outing in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup.

Effiong and his teammates had to endure a gruelling contest from Niger Tornadoes last Sunday to clinch the AITEO Cup that meant they qualified to represent Nigeria in the CAF Confederation Cup in 2018.

Now the right-back is hoping that they can do better than their previous outing in 2016 when they were eliminated only in the preliminary round after so much hope.

The Akwa United defender still recalls how they raised the hopes of their countrymen when they defeated Congo Brazzaville’s Vita Club Mokanda 1-0 through Ubong Ekpai’s goal at the Municipal Stadium in Pointe-Noire.

However things got awry in the return fixture 14 days later when they lost 1-0 to Jean Kalupumbu’s goal and then lost in the penalty shootout to exit the competition prematurely.

“It was a painful moment for us last year because we started well by winning in Congo but somehow we lost at home.

“When we won on Sunday I was so happy because it means we will get another chance to prove that what happened last year was one of those things in football. Right now this is a different team from that one and also we have a different coach and hopefully by Gods grace we will do very well and go very far in the tournament.

“The only thing now is for us to plan ahead and prepare very well for the competition because we will be facing some of the best teams in Africa and our experience last year will serve as a lesson too,” said Effiong to npfl.ng.

However Effiong says “for now I am just happy with our win (in the AITEO Cup) after we missed the chance in the league.”