Technical Adviser to reigning NPFL champions, Rangers International F.C and 2024 Coach-of-the-Year award winner, Fidelis Ilechukwu, has assured the club’s numerous supporters that his team has a perfect game plan to prosecute the 2024/2025 NPFL season-opening game against El-Kanemi Warriors even though he insisted that it will be a tough match.
The season’s opening encounter, which is set to take place inside Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, on Saturday, August 31, 2024, with kick-off fixed for 4:00 pm will see the league champions trade tackles with the winners of the President Federation Cup 2024 in a repeat of 2015/2016 title-winning match at the same venue.
In a chat after the team’s last training session ahead of the opening fixture against the coach Aliu Zubairu tutored side, Ilechukwu said that he expects a very difficult challenge from his opponent who recently exited the CAF Confederation Cup.
“It is going to be a very tough match for both teams. El-Kanemi have a very strong team. I watched their games on the continent and you would agree with me that they have a very strong team, a very tough team and it is going to be a very difficult match in the league opener. We have our game plan. Show me the team and you show me the coach. We have one of the best coaches in Nigeria with a strong squad. Signed some of the best players in the country. I can tell you that we are going to approach the game the way we approach every other game,” Ilechukwu said.
The vastly experienced gaffer further stated, “We are positive always. I want our fans to believe in the team. I know that in every situation in a team, you must pass through phases. We a facing a little difficult time and it happens in football. I don’t want anybody to panic. As Rangers’ fans, I want them to believe in the team and believe in what we can be able to achieve both on the domestic and continental scene.”
NewsBits recalls that in the last five encounters involving both sides, spanning three years, Rangers had won three, drew one and lost one, scoring seven and conceding three goals. Rangers under coach Fidelis Ilechukwu emerged champions of the 2023/2024 NPFL season at his first time of asking, having led two other sides to second-place finishes in the past and the Nnewi born tactician is positive of a successful title defense in the 2024/2025 NPFL season.
