Nigeria’s sole representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Rivers United, are aiming to go beyond the quarter-final stage of the competition this season after starting their campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Angola’s APC Lobito in Uyo on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Samuel Antwi, Paul Odeh, and Shedrack Asiegbu were on target for Stanley Eguma’s side as they moved to the top of their group with a comfortable win.
The Port Harcourt side were eliminated in the quarter-finals last season by Tanzanian club Young Africans who eventually finished as runners-up. The 2022 Nigeria Premier Football League champions are competing for a second consecutive season as the only side from Nigeria.
While Nigeria’s other representatives on the continent; Bendel Insurance, Remo Stars, and Enyimba were eliminated during the preliminaries, Rivers United coach, Stanley Eguma, spoke about his team’s ambition to boost the country’s coefficient on the continent next season after their win on Sunday.
“We are not under pressure; we know that we have the quality to represent the country well. We have done it in the past. All our plan is to ensure that we surpass what we did last season and we know that will do the country well. We know where we are heading and we are focused on that,” Eguma said.
For the second season running, Rivers United are also playing the Confederation Cup at their adopted ground in Uyo after their stadium in Port Harcourt fell short of CAF requirements.
“Whether in Uyo or Port Harcourt, we are a Nigerian team and we can play anywhere in the country. We have even played in Benin Republic before. Our fortress and comfort zone is in Port Harcourt but now that the conditions don’t allow us to play there, we can play anywhere as long as it is Nigeria. We have taken Uyo as our new home and it’s yielding results for us,” the coach added.
Rivers United’s next game is against Dreams FC of Ghana in Accra on Sunday, December 3.
