Sports
CAFCC: Rivers United Hopes To Secure Quarter Final Ticket
Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt has given strong hope to Nigerians, mostly people of Rivers State that they will consecutively qualify for quarter final stage of the ongoing CAF Confederation Cup.
United 1-0 win against Club AfrIcain on Saturday, at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, seems to be the most important, this is a strong indication that the only club remaining club representing the country in the continent will qualify for the next stage.
Speaking shortly after the match the technical manager of Rivers United, Stanley Eguma has expressed joy over victory against Club Africain of Tunisia in the group C of the ongoing CAF Confederation Cup (CAFCC).
According to him, the win will serve as a morale booster to his players going into their next game and confirmed. that the game was a very technical one.
Eguma said this on Sunday in his post match interview shortly after they defeated Club Africain 1-0 in the CAF Confederation Cup at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo.
“It was a good and highly technical game. I gave kudos to my players for keeping up with their tactical discipline in this game. Club Africain is a good team, there’s no doubt as they played with a lot of tactics.
“All our tactical plans worked because the players were able to keep their heads down and adhere to instructions.Our opponents were very fast with the ball, and we tried to calm down the tempo of the game to our own pace. We dictates the tempo of the game until the later part of the first half when we got the goal.
“In the second half, we knew that they were almost getting tired, so we tried to keep possession but we discovered that they were now using long through balls transitions. That was where we had problems trying to curtail them. My players held their heads and did that perfectly until we got to the end of the game. We have strong teams in our group” Eguma said.
The technical manager further caution his players not to be carried away by the victory because there are more games to play to qualify for the next stage..
“Today, we’ve picked three points but it’s not yet time for celebration because we have other games to play. We will go back to Tunis and ensure we keep a clean slate and then face other challenges after now.
The Port Harcourt side travel will to Tunisia in ten days time for the return leg as Club AfrIcain tops the group with goal advantage.
By: Tonye Orabere/ Kiadum Edookor
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.