Rivers United head coach, Finidi George, has expressed pride in his team’s historic qualification for the CAF Champions League group stage — the first in the club’s history and Nigeria’s first appearance at that level in six years.
The 2022 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions sealed their place with a 3-1 victory over Black Bulls of Mozambique on Saturday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit to progress 3-2 on aggregate.
Rivers United now remain the only Nigerian team left in continental competition this season, following the exits of Remo Stars, Kwara United, and Abia Warriors.
The qualification also marks Finidi’s first CAF Champions League campaign as a coach, having joined Rivers United last season after spells with Enyimba and the Super Eagles.
“I’m very happy with the victory and the hard-fought battle,” Finidi told journalists.
“To qualify is a great achievement for everyone here. We’ve been looking forward to this moment. Personally, it’s an honour to reach this stage, and now we’ll focus on competing in the group stages.”
Finidi added that the team plans to strengthen their squad ahead of the next phase:
“We’ll see the draws and take each game as it comes. This tournament is difficult, so we’ll add one or two players. For now, we’ll enjoy this win — we deserved it.”
Rivers United took control early in the decisive match, with Wasiu Falolu scoring in the 15th minute to level the tie on aggregate, after Maclyn Biokpo’s effort was parried into his path.
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