SHAWWAL 25 1430 A.H.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER . 14 2009.
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Pillars should be commended, rewarded
With
Sani Yusif
saniyusifmusa@yahoo.com
064-947509
SATURDAY last week was not a good one for the majority of soccer enthusiasts in Kano. This followed the inability of the state’s darling team, Kano Pillars Football club to revenge the 4-0 loss they suffered in the hands of a very lucky Heartland Football Club in Owerri, Imo state in the first leg of their CAF Champions League semi-finals, but instead conceded yet another 0-1 defeat right here during the second leg of the competition before the full capacity crowd at Sani Abacha Stadium, Kofar Mata.Indeed, it was a match Kano Pillars should have won easily hands down, if one takes into the account of the number of goals Pillars players failed to convert. In fact, by the end of the encounter, I lost count of the number goals wasted by the host side.
To most of us, the same god of soccer that gave the visiting side upper hand in the first leg when they white-washed Pillars 4-0, surfaced again, saved them from Pillars roaring onslaught and some minutes to the end of the game, gave them another goal which killed Pillars hope of winning the match even by a lone goal.
What has happened has happened. But one thing is sure, the team has tried its very best, only that in a contest like this a winner must emerge and Heartland got it. The team needs to be commended for a job well-done. Look at how far they have gone in the competition; they have never participated before and had no experience at all. Nobody thought the team would go this far. Some people wrote Pillars off the moment they were drawn against Al-Ahly FC of Egypt.
This is a competition which commenced with about 100 football clubs across African continent in January this year. Only Kano Pillars and three others reached the semi-finals stage of the competition. Where are the big names in African clubs football?
Where are the likes of Asec Mimosa of Cote D’Ivoire, Asante Kotoko of Ghana, Coton Sports of Cameroun, Al-Ahly of Egypt, Africa Sports Cote D’Ivoire, Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia and many others before now? The simple answer is they have all crashed out of the competition long ago. Some have even forgotten participating in the competition.
So, we have to appreciate what Kano Pillars have done not only to the state alone, but to the country for reaching this far in the Africa’s elite clubs football competition.
Besides, looking at the history of the formation of all the four teams that reached the semi-finals, only Pillars is less than 20 years old, because it was founded in 1990 whereas Al-Hilal of Sudan was founded in 1930, while Heartland of Nigeria and TP Mezambe of Congo were founded in 1976 and 1939 respectively.
Moreover, among the four that survived to semi-finals, only Kano Pillars has no record of participation and experience in the competition.
Records available have shown that, TP Mezambe of Congo has reached the finals of the competition four times (1967, 1968 1969 and 1970) and won twice in 1967 and 1968 against Asante Kotoko of Ghana and Etoile filante de Lome of Togo.
Al-Hilal FC of Sudan has twice reached the finals of the competition (1988 and 1992) but could not stamp any authority in the two appearances as they lost to Al-Ahly of Egypt and Wydad A. Casablanca of Morocco respectively which made them lose the chances of becoming Africa’s clubs king.
Heartland FC of Nigeria reached the finals once when they were Iwuanuanwu Nationale in 1988 but could not overturn the might of Wifak Setif FC of Algeria.
To me, Pillars have tried and they should be proud of that. They should not only be commended, but should be rewarded handsomely.
I recommend for a grand reception to be put in place in their honour. This will boost their morale in the on-going Premier League and make them work harder for yet another title.
