Tag: Eguma

Rivers United manager, Stanley Eguma, believes Club Africain and FUS Rabat will be among the front runners for this year’s CAF Confederation Cup(CCC) title.

Eguma’s men were beaten 2-1 by Moroccan club, FUS in Rabat on Friday night with the victors progressing to the last eight of the competition at the expense of the ‘Pride of Rivers’.

The Rivers United trainer has now tipped his side’s conquerors as well as Tunisia side, Club Africain to progress even further in CAF’s second tier club competition.

“This (Group A) was by far, the toughest group of all four (in this year’s CAF Confederation Cup) and all clubs in the group could have qualified for the quarter finals,” Eguma told supersport.com.

“In the end I think but FUS and Club Africain did just enough to qualify ahead of us and KCCA.

“I say congratulations to them and I honestly believe that these two sides will go far in this competition,” he said.

Meanwhile, Eguma has declared Rivers United will now focus on claiming silverware in domestic competition to salvage their season. Rivers United currently lies in 16th place on the NPFL table with 33 points from 25 matches, 15 adrift of the leaders, Plateau United.

The technical manager of Rivers United Stanley Eguma says he is still very optimistic his wards have what it takes to qualify for the next round of the CAF Confederation Cup despite their slim win over KCCA of Uganda in the group stage tie played on Tuesday in PortHarcourt.

The Pride of Rivers started the game very brilliantly and even got their two goals under the opening 15 minutes through Bernard Ovoke and Frederick Obomate but poor marksmanship and their inability to exert their superiority in the second half ensured that the game ended 2-1 after the visitors pulled a goal back through Geofrey Serunkuma who struck in the dying moments of the first half.

Despite the result which now placed them third on the log with six points, Eguma told SportingLife in Port Harcourt:  “We were hungry for goals and we started the game very well but my players were very careless in front of goal. It is a tight group and almost everybody in the group is very strong and tough. Rivers United are a new team on the continent but we are still optimistic and still itchy for more to improve our performances both home and away.”

Rivers United will face Club Africain of Tunisia who are second on the log with six points also but with better goals difference next at home on July 2 in another group stage tie.

Rivers United manager Stanley Eguma is wary of the threat posed by FC Ifeanyiubah as his charges prepare to face the  Anambra Warriors in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) on Sunday.

“FC Ifeanyiubah is a good team and that is why they are currently in second place on the NPFL log.

“We are going to intensify our training and then work on  the areas that we have not done well because it is a match  that we have to win.

“For us to win, we have to work extremely hard and we have  just a couple of days to prepare for the big game,” he  told supersport.com.

Rivers United currently occupy 15th place on the NPFL log  with 27 points from 22 matches.

Technical manager of Rivers United FC, Stanley Eguma has saidthere will be no talk of revenge when his charges face Enugu Rangers in the second game of the annual pre-season tournament of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), the Super 4.
The Flying Antelopes go toe to toe with the Pride of Rivers from 6:45pm today at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu in the stand out fixture of match day one.
Rangers trounced Rivers United 4-0 the last time the two sides met at ‘the Cathedral’ on September 4 but Eguma said revenge will be the last thing on his mind tonight.
“The main thing about this tournament is to ascertain the level of preparedness of players in the squad.
“The team that Rangers beat 4-0 is quite different from our current team.
“There are some new players in the team now, the tactics are different and the general orientation is completely different.
“The outcome of the game is really unimportant as our main focus is to see if the new players are responding to our philosophy.
“We also want to know if we have reached the standard required to give Nigeria creditable representation in next year’s CAF Champions League.
“We are not going for revenge against Rangers because we know that the amount of stiff competition we will face in the new season will not come from Rangers alone.
“So we have to look beyond Rangers,” he told the club’s official website, www.riversunitedfc.com.ng.
Rivers United and Enugu Rangers will represent Nigeria in the 2017 CAF Champions League.

Rivers United boss, Stanley Eguma has revealed that the Pride of Rivers are confident that the team would make a great impact in the 2017 CAF Champions League competition with the moral and financial support of  Governor Nyesom Wike.

Wike hosted Rivers United players and officials to a grand reception recently at the Government House where the players were rewarded with N500,000 each and the head coach with N1million.

Eguma who couldn’t hide his feeling told SportingLife that Governor Wike has shown that he has come to take the club to the next level with his commitment to the team’s cause thus far.

He said Rivers United will return back to camp at the end of the month more energised to face the rigour of the coming season with high expectations knowing that their welfare won’t be hindered.

Technical manager of Rivers United FC, Stanley Eguma says Wikki Tourists will beat his charges unless they play with belief in this weekend’s big game in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

Rivers United have only amassed seven points on their travels all season and have failed to score in their last nine games on the road.

Eguma knows his charges must produce a big performance a powerful Wikki side who are almost peerless at home.

“I cannot predict the outcome of matches before they are played. I rather work towards (getting a positive result from) the game. I recall that when we got our first away win of the season (against Warri Wolves in Warri on May 8), no one expected it.

“I can’t predict what will happen in Bauchi.

“I agree that Wikki Tourists is a good side but it is possible that they can fall in Bauchi and that is what we are plotting for.

“We have had a week to prepare for the game and we will go to Bauchi to give a good account of ourselves because we know the importance of that game.

“We know what that game will do for our title ambitions so we are not going there for (tourism). The fans should know that Rivers United will be giving her best in that game and who knows, we may be coming back with a win,” Eguma told RIVERS UNITED MEDIA.

Rivers United are currently in first place on the NPFL standings with 56 points from 33 matches.

Rivers United winger, Bernard Ovoke has apologised to coaches and players of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) club for the actions which earned him an indefinite suspension earlier this week.

Ovoke was indefinitely suspended for ‘his actions that border on anti-club activities and gross indiscipline’ on Monday, June 27.

The winger has now taken the time to apologise for his actions, revealing that he is eager to return to the fold.

“I want to use this medium to apologise to the technical manager (of Rivers United FC) Stanley Eguma who has been more like a father to me since I joined the football club.

“I want to also apologise to all the coaches of the club as well as my teammates. I acknowledge that I was wrong and deserved to be suspended. It is my prayer that my suspension is lifted as I will like to return to join my teammates as we look to win laurels for the fans of Rivers United FC,” he told Rivers United Media.

Ovoke has scored seven goals in all competitions for Rivers United this season.