Rivers United head coach, Finidi George, has disclosed that his side will do their best as they face Pyramids of Egypt in their CAF Champions League group opener on Saturday, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Pride of Rivers, who are the only Nigerian side left on the continent this season, will make their debut in the group stages of the CAF Champions League this Saturday when they face the defending champions at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo.
For Rivers United, the clash goes beyond simply kicking off their campaign. It symbolises Nigeria’s long-awaited reappearance in the group stage since 2019, rewarding the Port Harcourt side for a brilliant qualifying journey that saw them overcome Mozambique’s Black Bulls just weeks ago.
“We’ll do our best,” Finidi George said ahead of the fixture. “It’s a football match of 90 minutes; we’ll see how we can get the best result over there. A draw is not a bad one, but if we can go there and pick three points, that will be fantastic.”
“They are the defending champions; it’s not going to be an easy one. We’ve been watching their tapes; we’ll see how we can compete properly. We don’t want a free-flow kind of football, especially when you are playing on their own ground,” he said.
“We have to get the boys ready mentally because if you just feel you will go to Egypt and score four goals, we’ll be getting it wrong. We have to plan to see how we can contain them. If our moment comes and we have the opportunity to score, we’ll do that. First is solid defence; keep the team very compact and wait for our moment,” the NPFL winner concluded.
After the trip to Egypt, Rivers United will shift their focus back to Uyo next Friday as they prepare to welcome Moroccan heavyweights RS Berkane on Match day two.
