Dr. Toni Aubynn, the Board Chairman of Medeama SC, is confident that the Ghana Premier League champions will secure qualification to the next stage of the CAF Champions League.
Medeama SC, based in Tarkwa, has been paired with Nigerian side Remo Stars in the first leg of the preliminary round of the tournament. Despite facing a challenging opponent, Dr. Aubynn, who is also an Executive Council member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), assured Ghanaians that the team is optimistic about progressing to the next stage.
”We are very confident we will qualify over them; that one, we can assure our supporters and Ghanaians,” he told Graphic Sports.
Acknowledging the difficulty of the match against the Nigerian academy side, Dr. Aubynn revealed that the technical team of Medeama immediately began researching their opponents after the draw last week. However, he expressed the team’s preparedness and determination, stating that they have strengthened their squad in anticipation of the continental championship.
”We have the men, and I think we have a good technical team. We are beefing up the team with a few other players, so I think we are capable of beating them, though I concede that they are not going to be a walkover, especially because they are an academy side.
”It will be suicidal for me to say we will not progress. Everybody will be expecting us to progress; so we are very confident that we’ll progress to the next stage, but we also have to admit that we’re not going to play a walkover side,” he said.
This will be the first appearance of the Ghana Premier League champions in the continent’s highest club competition after participating in the CAF Confederation Cup seven years ago. Dr. Aubynn believes that the lack of experience is a significant motivation for the players, who are determined to make a name for themselves in Africa.
”The very fact that we don’t have the experience is a huge motivation. Our players are determined to enjoy the opportunity that has been presented to them by our contribution.
“I spoke to the players, and they can’t wait to make a name in Africa, and that’s the driving force,” he revealed.
”The players themselves want to make a name and, of course, as a club, we also want to make a name; so the management and the board are also determined to make a name. We are all motivated to do that,” he stressed.
The first leg of the encounter will take place at the Cape Coast Stadium on August 18, with the return leg scheduled for August 25.
