By Wale Mustapha
Players and officials of Rivers United has safely landed in Rabat, Morocco ahead of their second leg, second round CAF Champions League against Wydad Casablanca on Sunday.
The Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL champions arrived Mohammed V International Airport with 35 man contingent after having a brief stopover in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
The Nigeria champions are heading into the second leg tie with a 2-1 advantage and will seek to earn a spot in the group stage with a favourable result on Sunday.
Rivers United came down from a goal down to beat Wydad in Port Harcourt on Sunday, thanks to goals from Malachi Ohawume and Paul Acquah canceling out Bouly Sambou’s early goal.
Nigeria international Joseph Onoja expects the North Africans to come out blazing in the reverse fixture and assured that Rivers are up to the task.
“In this competition, playing at home is more difficult. Going to Casablanca, they will come with a lot of antics as usual and they will want to intimidate us with their crowd. One thing is very sure, their crowd won’t play for them. We are going out to give them the fight of their life,” Onoja told Goal.
He also explained how his team were able to secure a comeback victory against Hussein Ammouta’s men despite conceding first.
“It was a tough game for us because they are a very good side, but we tried as much as possible to concentrate on our game plan and not on them. They are champions of Africa, but we are champions of Nigeria.
“When we conceded first, all that was on our minds was how to come back. We pushed very hard and got the equaliser before the half-time break. There, our coach motivated us and corrected our lapses. We went into the second half and got the job done. They came with their antics and that did not work.”
Sunday’s match will hold at the 67,000-capacity Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca by 7pm Nigerian time.
The Coach Stanley Eguma led side have been promised $40,000 each if they eliminate Wydad and qualify for the money spinning group stages of the competition.
