TotalCAFCC: Boboye warns Rivers United over slow start

Akwa United head coach Kennedy Boboye has sounded a note of warning to his former club, Rivers United as they prepare for their Total CAF Confederation Cup (TotalCAFCC) preliminary round game this weekend.

Boboye, in an interview with www.aclsports.com stated that Rivers United must arrest their penchant for having slow start to matches, a feature which has characterised their performances in pre-season games over the past two weeks.

Boboye’s Akwa United held Rivers United to a 2-2 draw at the Gov Wike Pre-season tournament earlier this month in a game United had to come from behind to force the issue like they had done in some other games in the tournament.

“My concern is that they (Rivers United) shouldn’t start slowly because they didn’t start well,” Boboye who won the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) as a player with Rivers United in 2004 told www.aclsports.com

“If they’re playing in the continent and they start slowly, they are going to be punished. And if you’re being punished before you get yourself, it becomes a problem.”

Boboye was speaking from a place of experience having seen his Plateau United side concede three goals within the opening ten minutes in a CAF Champions League game against Etoile du Sahel in March 2018. His side lost the game 4-2 and the tie 3-4 on aggregate.

“If they have to burn, then they have to burn their candles quick and make sure they get early goals that can help them in the continent. I just wish them well and hope they start fine-tuning themselves in the games proper.side,” added the former national Under 23 attacker.

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Rivers United will face Futuro Kings of Equatorial Guinea in their preliminary round first leg clash on Saturday, November 28, 2020 in Malabo while the second leg will hold at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, next week.