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This is just the second time ever that Heartland FC of Owerri will be appearing in the final of the prestigious CAF Champions League and the club from the eastern part of Nigeria is aiming to make the 2009 final a memorable by winning it after losing in during their first attempt in 1988.

Heartland, then known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale, lost to Algeria ’s Entente Setif 4-1 on aggregate in the final of the competition, then known as the CAF Champions Cup.

However they are poised to erase those bitter memories when they play one of Africa’s foremost sides, TP Mazembe of Congo DR in the first leg of the final at the Dan Anyiam Stadium on Sunday.

Captain ThankGod Ike says the Nigerians will rely on team unity to surmount the Congolese hurdle this time around after both sides won their group games at home 2-0 respectively.

“Mazembe are a very good side; they are no pushovers after getting this far. We have met them twice and we know how to play them. The spirit in camp is very high and we hope to use it to good affect when we met them in Owerri,” Ike said

Mazembe is a feared side on the continent but Ike believes his team has a pedigree too as far as African club competition is concerned and refuses to accept that they are underdogs compared to Mazembe.

Well, maybe. Aside the 1988 final, Heartland has also played in the competition four other times reaching the last four in 1990 and 1991 while they crashed out in the second round and quarterfinal in 1989 and 1994 respectively.

The five-time Nigerian champions have also reached the semifinal of the CAF Cup once in 2000 and reached the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup in 2006.

“We have prepared well and as team leader, my duty is to ginger the entire team and make them realise that we can make it. If we could beat a team like Cotonsport and overcome Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia on our way to the final, then it would be a great injustice to tag us as underdogs,” Ike added.

In Tresor Mputu, Mazembe has one of the most dreaded strikers in African club football.

Mputu helped his club reach the African Champions League in 2007, and emerged as the top goalscorer of the competition with nine goals but the hard-as-nails Ike, who has a commanding presence in the heart of Heartland’s defence remains undaunted.

“We cannot be intimidated by just a single player. We play more as a team and not as individuals but if Mazembe come relying on just a single player to play us, they will be disappointed.

“Mputu is a very good player. He is also very strong but match day will decide. We can’t tell you about our plans to keep him in check but we will certainly make sure he doesn’t cause problems for us.” Ike also believes the first leg at home is a blessing for his side.

“We hope to win well at home with as many as three goals so that we will make the second leg a mere formality,” he remarked.

Striker, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu, seems to share Ike’s optimism and confidence.

“Of course we have the team to lift the trophy,” Ibenegbu begins. “From the goal to the attack, we have quality players who can get the job done. Mputu is not a problem at all. When he first came to Owerri, we stopped him and he couldn’t get on the score sheet. We hope to do that again,” Ibenegbu said.

They may well be on course bearing in mind their impressive victories on the way to the final.

After beating Black Star of Liberia 10-1 aggregate in the preliminary round of the tournament, they edged out Moroccan side FAR Rabat 4-2 before setting up a titanic clash against Cameroun ’s Cotonsport. Only few gave Heartland a chance of qualifying for the lucrative group stage but the Nigerians did it in style winning the first leg in Owerri 2-1 before holding their hosts to a 1-1 draw in Garoua.

They got their first baptism of fire in the group stage when they recorded their first defeat in their very first game incidentally against Mazembe. It was a 2-0 defeat in Lubumbashi but they bounced back to beat Zimbabwe’s Monomotapa and Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia 3-1 and 3-0 respectively at home before producing sheer clash to hold the Tunisians in the reverse fixture 0-0.

Their good form continued as they got the desired revenge against Mazembe, winning 2-0 but lost their last Group B game to Monomotapa 2-1 after qualification to the semifinal had been sealed.

The results placed Heartland with 10 points, second behind the Congolese side and a potential clash against rival Kano Pillars presented itself in the semifinal.

The Nigerian side was still riding on the ouster of defending champions, Al Ahly of Egypt , whom they beat to advance to the group stage. Aside, Pillars deservedly topped Group A.

But once again, the Naze Millionaires, as Heartland are known, came up with the unexpected. Against all predictions, they humiliated Pillars 4-0 in front of their vociferous fans in Owerri before completing the rout with a 1-0 win in Kano to advance to the final on a 5-0 aggregate.

Surely, Heartland has enjoyed a rich vein of form but how far they put it to advantage against Mazembe will determine if the trophy will return to Nigeria five years after Enyimba last won it.