Rivers United vs Young Africans Preview: Pride of Rivers eye first leg quarterfinal lead

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Rivers United will host Young Africans of Tanzania in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinal at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Sunday.

The clash is an encounter between Group B runners-up and Group D winners from the group stages. Rivers United finished second in Group D with 10 points, three behind winner Asec Mimosa of Ivory Coast and four better than Diables Noirs of Congo, and seven ahead of bottom-placed Motema Pembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On the other hand, Young Africans topped Group D with 13 points and a superior goal difference ahead of Monastir of Tunisia (13 points), Real Bamako of Mali (5 points), and TP Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo (3 points).

On recent form, the Nigerian champions had won one of its last five games with two defeats and two draws, while the Tanzanian foes won four of its last five games with a loss.

In previous meeting, both teams have met in the CAF Champions League in 2021 with Rivers United winning both ties 1-0.

Uche Onwuansanya scored the winning goal of the first leg in Port Harcourt while Moses Onome Omoduemuke converted the all-important goal in the return leg in Dar es Salaam.

It is the first appearance for Rivers United in the quarter-final stage of the CAF Confederation Cup and the Port Harcourt-based side will be hopeful of making it to the final four on their first attempt.

With a place in the semi-final at stake, the dream for Rivers United is to replicate the feat achieved by Enyimba by winning the CAF Confederation Cup title.

Enyimba won the more glamorous CAF Champions League in 2003 and 2004 under the tutelage of coach Kadiri Ikhana and Okey Emordi respectively, with Stanley Eguma hoping to join list of Nigeria’s great coaches on the continent.