The
Nigerian football club
Enyimba won the 2003
African Champions League title, beating
Ismaily SC of
Egypt.
In the first round on April 13, 2003, Enyimba defeated
Satellite FC of
Guinea, winning 3-0 in Aba. In the second leg in
Conakry, Enyimba thrashed the Guineans 5-2. The Peoples' Elephant won the tie 8-2 on aggregate.
The second round match held on the 18th of May in Aba against
ASC Jeanne d'Arc of
Senegal ended 4-0 to Enyimba. The second leg at the
Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in
Dakar ended goalless as the Senegalese failed to score. Enyimba therefore qualified for the group state of the competition with a 4-0 aggregate victory.
After the draw for the group stage in
Cairo, Egypt, Enyimba was drawn in group A with
Simba FC of
Tanzania,
ASEC Mimosas of
Côte d'Ivoire and Ismaily of
Egypt.
In the first group match in Aba, Enyimba beat Simba 3-0. This victory sent a wrong signal to both players and officials who perhaps thought that the team had indeed arrived. This was not to be, as the Peoples Elephant received the greatest defeat in their history; a 6-1 demolition against Ismali in
Ismailia,
Egypt.
This loss turned out to be the tonic the club needed. Enyimba at the end of the day qualified for the semi-final of the competition beating ASEC Mimosa 3-1 in Aba and 2-0 in
Abidjan. They lost to Simba 1-2 but defeated Ismaili with a 4-2 victory in Aba.
Enyimba thus topped the group with 12 points after 6 matches, while Ismaili came second with 11 points.
In the Semi-finals,...
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