(Matchday 5:)
>Remo Stars – Enyimba<
>Date: 1 Feb, 2023<
…
(Matchday 6:)
>Enyimba – El Kanemi Warriors<
>Date: 5 Feb, 2023<
…
(CAF Champions League!)
(First preliminary round. Leg 2 of 2)
>Zamalek – Enyimba FC<
>Date: 7 Feb, 2023<
Sam had no time to rest.
The fact that Enyimba FC literally played a game just yesterday, 31st January in the CAF Champions League and they were expected to play another professional football game the next day showed how disorganized the 2022/2023 season was.
Coach Yemi Daniel didn't have any choice though, his team still had to play. He had no authority over the match fixtures, his only authority ended in his team.
For matchday 5 of the NPFL season, Coach Yemi Daniel finally pulled the plug on his squad, resting almost all his regular starting XI players as he started with the Enyimba FC B team against Remo Stars at home.
It was a risky decision but Coach Yemi Daniel already accepted it, no matter the result of the game at the end.
Just as was expected, without the regular starting XI players on the pitch, the young Enyimba team suffered against Remo Stars as they failed to create any clear-cut chances on the pitch across the first 45 minutes.
Surprisingly though, this young team also managed to keep a first half clean sheet as they impressed with their incredible work rate, and maybe some luck too.
But their luck could only carry them so far.
In the 66th minute of the second half, the Remo Stars pressure finally bore fruit as after some chaotic scrambling in the Enyimba FC box, the ball was finally pushed beyond the post into the net.
In the 66th minute, it was 1-0 to Remo Stars.
As the game wore on, Enyimba FC tried to even matters to no avail. Coach Yemi Daniel made changes in the 75th minute, introducing Austin and Farouk, yet both players were unable to turn the game on its head.
Enyimba FC suffered its first defeat of the 2021/2022 season to Remo Stars, and Sam never got the opportunity to enter the pitch.
Nobody questioned him though; Sam was just 17 years old.
Playing a teenager regularly in such a busy schedule was not recommended, in fact, it was foolish. It was important to manage Sam's minutes so that he won't fall victim to a terrible injury that may potentially ruin his career.
No matter how good he was, he was still a developing young talent.
Enyimba FC didn't let the Remo Stars game linger in their minds though as 4 days later, they hosted El Kanemi Warriors at home.
In this game, since he was not able to do anything in the previous game, only watching from the bench, hungry to impress, impress was exactly what Sam did as he took the game by the scruff of the neck in front of the Enyimba FC home fans.
Chipping in with a goal in the first half, he created an unreal assist in the second, and in a unanimous decision, Sam won his 3rd man of the match award of the season in just his 5th game.
This took his tally for the season to 5 goals and 4 assists in just 5 games.
He was already outperforming the best players of the league.
2 days later, in their next game of the CAF Champions League which was against Zamalek at home, Sam finally left his home country, Nigeria for the first time in his life.
The whole Enyimba FC squad traveled to Egypt by flight.
Without doubt, it was the most memorable journey that Sam had ever enjoyed in his whole life and he did well to document the moment, creating countless videos with his phone and sending to his family.
In a way, it also motivated him and made him more determined to perform.
He could not travel all this way out of his country for the first time only to play rubbish, his pride wouldn't let it.
By now, he already knew why his system pulled strings so that Enyimba FC could participate in the CAF Champions league for the 2022/2023 season.
Outside Africa, nobody paid attention to the Nigerian Professional Football League. No matter how much he performed in the league, he would always remain obscure unless he was granted a grander stage to perform.
And this grander stage that his system gave him was the CAF champions league.
If he could achieve his system season mission and help Enyimba FC win the CAF champions league, automatically, Enyimba FC would qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup which was an even grander stage to show his talent to the world.
This was why Sam was extra motivated for this game since in the first leg, he couldn't do much against the strong Zamalek despite playing at home.
In this game, Sam truly felt the ire of the radical Zamalek supporters and their passion that created a palpable tension in this game.
The game was a thriller.
Of course, Coach Yemi Daniel started with his strongest lineup.
Determined to win the game and progress to the next stage of the competition in front of their home fans, Zamalek started strong as in just the 3rd minute, they whipped in a thunderous shot past Ojo.
In just the 3rd minute, Zamalek was already ahead 1-0 and 1-1 on aggregate.
Immediately after, led by Austin Oladapo, the Enyimba FC captain, they tried to assert their authority over the game but over time, this proved impossible as the experienced Zamalek team played with grit, skill, and incredible passion.
In the 21st minute of the game, they doubled their lead as their striker deservedly tapped in a close range shot to make it 2-0 in Zamalek's favor.
Zamalek was already leading in aggregate in their fiery stadium.
It almost felt as if fate was determined to give Sam a reality check in the famed Cairo International Stadium, but Sam was unwilling to dance to the rhythm of fate. He was determined to defy fate!
In the 2nd half, buoyed by the explosive half-time speech of their coach, Enyimba FC came roaring out like angry Lions and this time, they were led by their young and passionate attacking midfielder, Samuel Moses.
In the 2nd half, Sam was back to his best, playing like a man possessed.
He played an incredible second half, completing the most passes, winning the most tackles, winning aerial duels, and most importantly, being the piece of the puzzle as he played the second passes that led to 2 incredible goals.
The game ended 2-2 after fulltime.
Sam didn't get an assist or a goal, but his incredible performance definitely caught the eye and with the aggregate rule, Enyimba FC won 2-3.
Sam won a CAF champions league man of the match award to his cabinet.