Yanga in Nigeria to face Rivers United today
Young Africans (Yanga) players during the past training session. The team leave the country today for Nigeria ahead of their CAF Confederation Cup match against Rivers United. The encounter is scheduled to take place on Sunday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium and will kickoff at 4pm Tanzanian time. PHOTO | LOVENESS BERNARD
Dar es Salaam. Football giants in the county Young Africans (Yanga) today play their first card in the quarterfinal first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup against Rivers United of Nigeria at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
Apart from the Yanga-Rivers United match, other games set for today are US Monastir hosting Asec Mimosa from 7pm at Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi (Radès) while Pyramids playing against Marumo Gallants at 30 June Stadium in Cairo, Egypt.
Also, on the list are USM Alger of Algeria meeting FAT Rabat of Morocco from 10pm at the Stade Moulay Abdallah in Rabat, Morocco.
The Yanga-Rivers game will kickoff at 4pm Tanzanian time and will be officiated by South African referee Abongile Tom.
Tom will be assisted by Ivanildo Meirelles of Angola and Miro Montenegro of Sao Tome and Principe and the fourth official will be Djindo Houngnandande of Benin.
There will also be the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which Yanga players will be experiencing for the first time. The Jangwani Street giants will be seeking revenge against Rivers United, who, in the 2021 CAF Champions League matches, eliminated Yanga on 2-0 goal aggregates in the preliminary round.
In their first leg, Yanga lost 1-0 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium and in the second leg they also lost with the same margin.
Yanga head coach Nesreddine Nadi said they are targeting the best result in their away encounter, which, he added, they will have to be very keen. Nabi said they do not underestimate their opponents following their recent results.
“Our target is to do well and we respect all the teams that have qualified for the stage. We will make sure we do well,” insisted Nabi. He explained that all his players are in high morale, expecting to do their best in the encounter.
“Records show that Rivers United normally record good results on their home soil. We are targeting to spoil their records,” he said.
The Rivers United are currently placed second in Nigeria’s top flight league with 19 points from 10 matches and have improved to outplace famous teams such as Enyimba, Kwara United and others to win the title in the 2021/2022 season.
Since their establishment in 2016, Rivers United have managed to qualify for the group stage of the CAF Champions League twice and in the 2017 season they reached the first round before qualifying for the second round in the 2022 edition.
In the CAF Confederation Cup, Rivers managed to enter the group stage in 2017 before qualifying for playoffs in the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons respectively.
