Nigeria’s representatives in the 2021 CAF Champions League, Rivers United will face the might of Sudanese giants, Al Hilal on Sunday as they aim for the group stage of the lucrative competition.
The match billed for the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium in Port-Harcourt is the first leg of second round preliminary matches in the Champions League and a good result over two legs for Rivers United will land them in the group stage for the first time since 2016.
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To reach this stage, the ‘Pride of Rivers’ did the double over Tanzanian giants, Young Africans in the first preliminary round as they won the first leg 1-0 in Dar es Salam before returning home to complete the job with another 1-0 win to set up the clash with Al Hilal.
It promises to be an uphill task for Rivers United who must win with a big margin against the highly motivated Sudanese giants to stand a chance in the return leg to be played in Egypt, the adopted home ground of Al Hilal.
In order to motivate Rivers United to beat their opponents, Governor Nyesom Wike on Wednesday redeemed his pledge of N41m to the team for beating Young Africans of Tanzania.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s match, Rivers United star striker Fortune Omoniwari said the team is 100 percent ready to win in order to reach the group stage.
“We are 100 per cent ready and I am very sure that we will come out with a good result. Looking at the boys, everyone is working hard to make sure we secure a group stage slot.
“Everyone in Nigeria is looking up to us and we are not going to disappoint them,” he assured.
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