Confederation Cup: No regrets about losing to CS Sfaxien – Bayelsa United’s Shaibu

Goalkeeper John Shaibu says Bayelsa United have no regrets about losing to CS Sfaxien in the second qualifying round of the Caf Confederation Cup.

The Nigeria National League side crashed out of the competition after losing 4-1 on aggregate to the Tunisian giants.

Bayelsa secured a 1-0 victory in the first leg, but they were mauled 4-0 in the reverse fixture staged at the Stade Taieb Mhiri, Sfax on Saturday.

According to the former Sunshine Stars and Abia Warriors star, Diepreye Teibowei’s men have taken some positives from the loss.

“I am proud of my team’s performance and I must say that we have no regrets losing to a top club like CS Sfaxien,” Shaibu told Goal.

“We put in our best both home and away but at the end, we were unlucky not to qualify for the play-off round.

“This is a good learning experience for us and going forward, you will see a better Bayelsa United, we have set a standard for ourselves.

“Despite playing in the Caf Confederation Cup, we set out to shock the continent by emerging as champions, but that did not happen the way we wanted.

“Hopefully, we will try and qualify for the tournament again in the 2022-23 campaign and we hope to go beyond the second round.”

The NNL side won the 2021 Aiteo Cup after defeating NPFL side Nasarawa United via penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

With that, they became the first team from Nigeria’s second division to lift the prestigious cup since Dolphins FC's feat 20 years ago.

Shaibu added how his team’s ambition is to now earn a berth in the Nigeria Professional Football League when the new season begins.

“With our hopes to stun Africa dashed, we have moved on and we have shifted our focus on qualifying for the NPFL,” he continued.

“The teams we played in the Confederation Cup found it hard to believe that we are playing in Nigeria’s lower league because of the way we played.

“We will not let that get into our heads and all we can do to make our fans happy is by returning to the Nigerian topflight where we truly belong.”