CAF CL: Coach Agbor Ernest Keen To Leave A Mark

Coach Agbor Ernest recounted Cotonsport’s glory days hours before the Sundowns showdown, promising to live up to the standards the club once set.

The Garoua-based outfit face South African representatives Mamelodi Sundowns in the TotalEnergies CAF champions league on Friday, February 16 at the 25,000 capacity Roumde Adjia stadium, on match day 2 of group B.

Cotonsport’s co-coach – Agbor Ernest came back to the glory days of Cameroon’s juggernaut club when quizzed on how the team is dealing with pressure;

“We played the champions league final on this same pitch in 2008. It is going to be a Cotonsport team with much more added value.

“I have been following the team and their coach is doing a commendable job. Shalulile their top scorer is from Namibia. They have players like Onyango who have played the AFCON”.

Agbor Ernest, 58, equally believes he has enough experience having coached different Cameroonian selections at a top level.

” I feel no pressure. For those who know me, I have managed games of high stakes. Mamelodi Sundowns are a big club just like Cotonsport. We are Cotonsport and we are playing at home.

“The fact that Downs won the first game against Hilal does not make us afraid or something like that. We are from two league matches and if we put same intensity, we will win”.

Cotonsport has been on a rollercoaster run this campaign, and it is the team’s lack of consistency that costed them the first place of group A, in the ongoing MTN Elite One championship upon resumption.

Coach Agbor and his back room staff have resolved to sort that out with working on the strikers’ finishing.

“We have been working immediately after the CHAN because prior, we had our players constantly out with the national teams. In our last two matches, we scored just one goal so we are working on improving that statistic.”

Coach Agbor Ernest has managed several top-tier sides in Cameroon including two-time Elite One winners, UMS Loum.

The latter was assistant to Martin Ndtoungou when Cameroon played the 2016 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship, but this is a totally different experience at club level.

The latter who formerly managed Union Sportif of Douala is ready to cement his coaching legacy with a fine performance in the biggest club competition on the continent.

Cotonsport will play its first match of the tourney in group B at 5 pm local time.