Sunshine targets outright victory against Club Africain

TO have an edge in the second leg of the semi-final of the CAF Confederation Cup, Nigeria's flagbearer, Sunshine Stars of Akure, is hoping for a convincing victory over Tunisia's Club Africain this weekend in Ijebu-Ode.The Akure-based team had to wait till its last group match to confirm its place in the last four of the championship with a slim 1-0 win over Algeria's JS Kabylie. It was an 11th-minute strike from Ajani Ibrahim that sealed the team's place in the semi-final stage.Ajani, who had netted four goals so far in the championship, will want to use this weekend's tie to increase his goals tally. However, the team's handler, Gbenga Ogunbote, told The Guardian yesterday that they were in good mood for the encounter, while their target was to win outright in order to have an edge in the second leg holding in Tunisia.'We are ready for the match this weekend. The players and everybody are in good mood and hoping for total victory because we cannot afford to put ourselves in a tight corner during the second leg, which will be played away,' he said. 'Ijebu-Ode being our home, we hope to overcome the visitors and hope for better outing again in the second leg.'On the team's inability to convert some of its chances, he told CAF website recently: 'Scoring has always been our problem in this competition because most of the boys are new and lack the experience needed at this level. We will work on the attack seriously before our next match.'Club Africain topped Group A ahead of Angola's InterClube after the conclusion of the group matches. The Tunis team finished first with 11 points followed by the Luanda side a point behind.As Club Africain takes on Sunshine Stars, Group B's unbeaten winner, Moghreb Fes of Morocco, will square up against InterClube in the semi-finals this weekend as they intensify pursuit of a $660,000 first prize.Club Africain is the only semi-finalist to have triumphed in Africa, having lifted the African Champions Cup - later renamed the African Champions League - 20 years ago with a 7-3 aggregate triumph over Nakivubo Villa of Uganda.
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