Gift Orban’s KAA Gent will feature in the UEFA Europa Conference League in the coming season and their opponents have now been revealed.
The UEFA Europa Conference League is in its preliminary qualifying stages as several teams are competing for a chance to play in Europe’s third-tier competition. Gift Orban’s KAA Gent is also one of those teams looking to feature in the competition.
The 21-year-old Nigerian prospect has already begun the 2023/2024 season with his Belgian employers in what will be his first full campaign at the club after his arrival over the winter transfer window from Stabæk Fotbaall.
Orban will be looking to help his team qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League as they face MSK Zilina, a football club from Slovakia. The first leg of this tie will be played at the Ghelamco Arena, which is the home of Gent. The match will take place on the 27th of July while the second leg will be played at the Štadión pod Dubňom in Zilna, Slovakia. That match will take place on the third of August, 2023.
Abo Plus-houders wonen deze wedstrijd gratis bij. Je kunt gewoon met je abo-kaart binnen of je maakt aan de ingang gebruik van de app #uecl
— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) July 20, 2023
Gent will be seen as favourites to advance in the tie but the six-time Slovakian Champions will be no pushover. The first leg will be important to Gent as they have home advantage.
This presents a chance for them to score goals and create big lead that will give them confidence going into the second leg. MSK Zilina will be hoping to steal a victory or a draw before they travel back home.
Gift Orban will be at the forefront of all things good for his side, as he so often was for his team last season.
Gift Orban’s phenomenal breakout year
This competition will certainly be a meaningful one for Gift Orban as he made the world take notice of his talents in this tournament.
In the UEFA Europa Conference League last 16 tie against Turkish giants Istanbul Basaksehir, he made history by becoming the fastest scorer of a hat trick in a European club competition. His three goals in that match were scored in just 205 seconds and they were responsible for sending Gent to their first European quarterfinals in over three decades.
3 minutes, 24 seconds – the fastest-ever hat-trick in a men's UEFA club competition, scored by a 20-year-old Nigerian striker signed from Norway's second division for €3.3 million in January. Gent's Gift Emmanuel Orban is on fire. pic.twitter.com/BeQz0nfy1y
— SCOUTED (@scoutedftbl) March 15, 2023
Their European journey cut short at the quarterfinal stage against eventual winners, West Ham United but Orban’s name was on everyone’s lips by that point.
The 21-year-old had a phenomenal 2022/2023 season and ended his campaign with impressive numbers. In 22 games played for KAA Gent in all competitions last season, Orban scored 22 goals and managed two assists.
His impressive numbers have attracted the interest of some of the best teams on the continent, like Manchester United, Galatasaray, LOSC Lille and Tottenham Hotspur among others.
Orban is an ambitious player and has expressed his interest in playing for some of the best clubs in the world but the player has said that chances of him leaving are very low despite the rumours.
“I hear the rumours too, people say I’m going to leave. But I don’t think about a transfer. Not zero percent, but less than zero percent,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
The young forward will be hoping that another superb season will earn him a call-up to the Super Eagles first team squad.
This article was most recently revised and updated 9 months ago
