Rivers United head coach Stanley Eguma says it is important for his side to produce a good performance when they face USM Alger of Algeria in the CAF Confederation Cup quarter final first leg clash, www.aclsports.com reports.
Eguma will lead out his side in the knockout stage for a second successive year (after losing to Yanga of Tanzania at this stage last year) but they have their hands full against the defending champions who finished top of a difficult Group A that had teams from Egypt, Libya and South Africa.
Stanley Eguma is the longest serving coach in Nigerian football and he returns to the dugout having missed his side’s last two matches in the competition. He says his side’s aim is to gain a solid advantage for the return leg in Algeria.
“That is our plan and ambition. To make a bold statement by winning well, winning big, that’s our plan. We know it’s going to be difficult but we are equal to the task,” Eguma told Rivers United Media.
“We know that whatever good result we get here will help us in the second leg. We want to see that we convert our chances which we will definitely create and get the needed goals and then go to Algers and make the second leg a formality,” he added.
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MISSING STARS
For Sunday’s first leg encounter, both Rivers United and USM Alger will be missing some key players. United coach Eguma will be without his imperial midfielder Farouk Mohammed who will miss the game due to yellow card accumulation while USM Alger captain Zineddine Belaid is also ruled out due to card suspension after he was sent off in their last group game.
USM Alger will also be without four other players including their impressive midfielder Oussama Chita who is out injured. He has only missed one of their Confederation Cup games so far. Brahim Benzaza and Salim Boukhenchouche also miss out of Sunday’s game.
“The USM team is a very strong team, they are the defending champions and the cup holder and i think it’s a big clash but the team (Rivers United) is ready, we have patterned our strategies, we have our tactical plans and I think that on Sunday we will unleash them.
“We have respect for our opponents because we know they are more exposed and more experienced but I think with what we have, we have to make sure that we give our best to see that we raise the name of the country Nigeria. We cannot come to anything less than that. We are ready,” said Eguma.
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EARLY KICK-OFF
Sunday’s first leg tie between Rivers United and USM Alger billed for the Godswill Akpabio Stadium (also known as the Nest of Champions), Uyo will start at 2pm local time, the earliest Rivers United will start a game this season.
The kickoff time brings a sense of dejavu as it was the same time that their clash with Young Africans of Tanzania kicked off last year, a game that ended in a home loss for the Pride of Rivers as the players struggled to grasp with the humidity.
For this particular game, it is being touted that the early afternoon kickoff could serve as some advantage for Eguma boys as players of USM Alger are neck deep in the Ramadan fast but it remains to be seen.
