The CAF Confederation Cup group stage draw was conducted in Cairo on Friday and Nigeria’s only representative, Rivers United, have what is considered to be a kind draw.
In a tournament that is usually dominated by North African teams, the risk of being paired with more than one team from that side was high. The Pride of Rivers however avoided that and have been paired in Group C alongside Club Africain of Tunisia, Dreams FC of Ghana and Academica do Lobito of Angola.
The Port Harcourt giants were able to get the better of Burkinabe outfit Etoile Filante in the final qualification round, winning 2-0 on aggregate. It was however not that straightforward for Rivers as they needed two late goals from Alex Oyowah to seal the deal in the first leg before going on to play a goalless draw in Ouagadougou.
Group C:
◽️Rivers United
◽️Club Africain
◽️Dreams FC
◽️ APC Lobito#TotalEnergiesCAFCC pic.twitter.com/XUlqLvkRkP— TotalEnergiesCAFCL & TotalEnergiesCAFCC ???? (@CAFCLCC) October 6, 2023
It might safe to assume that Rivers United have been handed an easy group by being among the top seeds, meaning they avoided being paired with North Africans gaints such as defending champions USM Alger, two-time champions RS Berkane and Egyptian heavyweights Zamalek.
It is still not a guarantee things will be plain-sailing for Stanley Eguma’s men as their opponents will equally want to make a statement of intent. Dreams FC overcame FC Kallon of Sierra Leone to qualify into group stage while Academica do Lobito defeated Al Merreikh Juba of South Sudan 3-0 on aggregate. Regardless of these, Rivers should still be able to do relatively well as they have better continental experience than Dreams FC and Academica.
The 2022 Nigerian champions had a decent outing in the Confederation Cup last season, making it out of the group phase for the very first time before crashing out in the quarter-finals to Tanzanian giants Young Africans. They finished second in the group phase behind ASEC Mimosas with 10 points and ahead of Diables Noirs and Motema Pembe. They enjoyed the benefit of playing Sub-Saharan African teams throughout their journey and though they’ll have to face Club Africain this time, Rivers have considerable experience dealing with North African teams.
They notably recored a 3-0 win over Sudanese giants Al-Merrikh in the final round of the 2017 CAF Champions League qualifiers, the 1-0 win over FUS Rabat during the 2017 Confederation Cup group stage and the 2-1 win over Moroccan heavyweights Wydad Casablanca in the final Champions League qualifying round last season. The only downside in these victories is that they did not aid Rivers’ progress in the competitions.
While it is expected that Rivers United will have a good outing in this season’s Confederation Cup, it is not out of place to see a potential struggle. Nigerian teams at times do not have the best preparation and mindset going into continental games and sometimes underestimate the threat of their opponents due to the obsession of trying to make home advantage count.
This is not the time for Rivers United to do such. They need to build on from their performance last season and fly the Nigerian flag high across the continent. Eguma’s team are the only team representing the country in either CAF club competition after Enyimba and Remo Stars crashed out in the CAF Champions League in the qualifying round likewise Bendel Insurance in the Confederation Cup.
Right place, right time ????
Alex Oyowah ⚽????#TotalEnergiesCAFCC || #RIVEFO pic.twitter.com/XyvCc2QNqe
— Rivers United FC (@RiversUnitedFC) October 1, 2023
Nigeria’s performance in CAF Confederation Cup has not been great with the best position in recent times being being semi-final berths for Bayelsa (2009), Sunshine Stars (2011) and Enyimba (2018) since the now-defunct Dolphin FC (that morphed into Rivers United) reached the final in 2005 but lost 3-1 to FAR Rabat.
Rivers United must therefore push beyond their limits as they try to juggle Confederation Cup action with domestic duties in the Nigeria Premier Football League and the enthusiastic fans as usual watching with keen interest how far they can go.
