Rivers United rock solid defender, Ifeanyi Anaemena is confident that the ‘Pride of Rivers’ will overturn the 1-0 loss suffered against Enyimba FC in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup playoff.
In the all-Nigerian Confederations Cup clash decided last Sunday at the Aba Township stadium, the two time African champions, Enyimba squeezed past Rivers United 1-0 to take a slim advantage ahead of the second leg.
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The solitary strike by Cyril Olisema in the 59th minute of the gruelling encounter was enough to hand Enyimba the maximum points.
The return leg of the group stage playoff is scheduled for February 21 at the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium in Port-Harcourt.
Considering the slim margin and Rivers United’s strong showing against their arch rivals, Anaemena, a former captain of Enyimba is optimistic that his side will progress to the group stage at the end of the second leg.
He said the first leg result didn’t reflect the performance of Rivers United as he argued that they deserved at least a point in the tie.
Anaemena maintained that luck was not on the side of Rivers United, if not they would have been the one going into the return leg with advantage in their kitty.
“Not the result we wanted but at the same time not a bad result. We can overturn the 1-0 deficit in Port-Harcourt by God’s grace,” he assured.
The towering defender, therefore, charged his team mates to put behind them the loss in Aba as he said the job in the return leg must be done diligently.
“We are left with no option than to qualify for the group stage because we are indebted to the football loving people of Rivers State, particularly His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike who has continued to motivate us,” said Anaemena.
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