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Rangers and fans celebrate the 2023/2024 NPFL title win
Sixty-eight days after being crowned Nigeria Premier Football League champions for the eighth time, Rangers International will begin their title defence against 2024 Federation Cup winners El-Kanemi Warriors on the opening day of the 2024/25 season at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, on Saturday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
All eyes will be on the Flying Antelopes to start their campaign on a winning note in front of their fans, and the bigger picture is for Fidelis Ilechukwu’s side to aim for back-to-back titles and become the first team to do so in a decade after Kano Pillars achieved that feat in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
On the other side, El-Kanemi are making an immediate return to the top flight after spending a season in the Nigeria National League. They, however, return as the cup holders after a memorable victory over Abia Warriors in June.
Both sides have been involved on the continent before the start of the NPFL season, and the shadows of their tepid displays are still hanging over them.
Despite having the odds favouring them, the Flying Antelopes have started the season in their first competitive outing on a lukewarm note. Over two legs in the playoff of the CAF Champions League against Comoros Island’s US Zilimadjou, Rangers struggled to edge them 2-1 on aggregate, and they will next face Angolan club Sagrade Espranca in the final round of the preliminary stage.
Rangers coach Ilechukwu is aware of their enormous task in the new season and is upbeat they will be able to weather the storm.
“We will be competing on three fronts, so what I will say is that we will do well. We have to start building a team that will stand the test of travel because if we have players travelling for continental games, fatigue is likely to set in. So, we don’t want to have issues that will cause the team to go down in the league because we are playing continental,” Ilechukwu told PUNCH Sports Extra.
El-Kanemi Warriors, on the other hand, also did not cover themselves in glory in their playoff round against Benin Republic’s Dadje FC, who knocked them out of the CAF Confederation Cup over 3-2 aggregate scores.
Their gaffer, Aliyu Zubairu, blamed their ouster from the Confederation Cup on a lack of proper pre-season preparation, but the FA Cup-winning coach will have no excuse on their return to the topflight, even as they might fancy the chances of retaining their cup title.
“We’re going to give Rangers a good fight and get something from the match. I respect Rangers because they’ve been busy signing top players but that won’t dim our ambition as a club,” Zubairu told NPFL website.
The season opener will be live on StarTimes, the league’s official broadcast partner, from 4 pm this Saturday, while the other nine opening day fixtures will be played next weekend.
