Usman Abd’Allah has praised the South African football system and suggests that TS Galaxy can now be seen in the same light as the country’s big teams.
The Enyimba technical adviser was speaking ahead of Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup playoff fixture against South Africa’s Cup Champions at the Enyimba Stadium.
Sunday’s fixture in Aba will mark the second time in less than two years that the People’s Elephant will be met by a South African opposition at this stage of the Confederation Cup.
While Premier Soccer League side Bidvest Wits were the opponents in 2018, Galaxy, a second division side, shot into prominence when they defied odds to become the first lower tier team to clinch the Nedbank Cup, thereby earning a place in the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Rockets have taken that form to their debut appearance in the Confederation Cup, winning all of their first four matches in the competition.
And having beaten reputable Premier Soccer League sides en route their domestic Cup triumph, Abd’Allah believes the Rockets should now be rated at the level of South Africa’s big teams.
“They (South African teams) are teams with very good techniques and tactics and you know they have a very good youth development over there, so you can see they have very good technical abilities and tactical abilities.
“We are not taking anything for granted. We are expecting the team to be a very, very good team.
“They win their matches away and they are a goal-scoring team at away. So we’re all aware of that, that is why you can see how we’ve been preparing a lot so that we can work on our technical and tactical ability that can match this team.”
