Sports
CAF Confed Cup: Rivers United Tackles Celtic, Today
Rivers United players and officials will today in South Africa tackle Celtic Bloemfontein in the first leg match of the first round stage of the 2020/21 CAF Confederation Cup.
The Pride of Rivers, as United is fondly called will take to the pitch, knowing that a victory will take them within touching distance of the next round of the competition and a sum of N2,000,000.00 windfall. The largesse is a promise made to the club by business magnate, politician and philanthropist, Bro Felix Obua. The Philanthropist, also known as Go Round promised to dole out N2,000,000 FOR A win, N1,000,000 for a draw and N200,000 for each goal scored by the team in the game.
Thus, Rivers United and their handlers have their work cut out as they go against their host in the encounter.
For the coach Stanly Eguma tutored United the stakes are high enough with good motivation to go the extra mile. However, United must be at their best at the Dr Petrus Molema Stadium to take something away from the venue following the Bloemfontein Celtic good home record in recent times.
Eguma is expected to have a full squad available, provided that the COVID-19 test conducted on the team yesterday returned no positive result.
It is expected that the game would be a tight affair owing to the current good form of both teams and the fact that they both needed the lottery of spotkicks to edge out their respective opponents in the last round.
Though the South Africa side seems to be a ball playing team with little hesitation to impose their kind of game on opponents.
Rivers United has raised their game and possesses the force to neutralize Celtic and probably surprise them in their own backyard.
Keeper Theopholus Afelokhai should be available to man the post, while Godwin Aguda leads the list of performers in fine form to continue their run in Rivers United’s first team.
The game is expected to kick off at 5pm Nigerian time.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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