Come Saturday June 3, 2017, Nigerian side Rivers United will battle Uganda’s KCCA in the third group A match of the Total CAF Confederation Cup.
The Nigerian side are already in the country ahead of the clash but who are they?
Here is everything you need to know about the side
History
The merger of Sharks F. C. & city rivals, Dolphins F. C, both owned by the Rivers State Government led to the birth of Rivers United F. C. in February 2016.
Sharks F. C. was formed in 1972 and had played in the top division of the Nigerian Premier League until their relegation in 2016.
They were winners of the West African Club Championship (UFOA Cup) in 2010 and the Nigerian FA Cup Finalist in 1979, 2003 and 2009.
Dolphins F. C. was founded in 1988 as Eagle Cement and only changed to Dolphins F. C. in 1991. They are one of the most successful clubs in Nigeria, having won the Premier League title on three occasions in 1997, 2004 and 2011, as well as the Federation Cup four times in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007 respectively. Dolphins appeared in the CAF Cup Winners’ Cup in 2002. They have also made three appearances in the CAF Champions League (1998, 2005 and 2012) and the CAF Confederation Cup (2005, 2007 and 2008), making it to the final of the Confederation Cup in 2005.
Rivers United motto is “United through Football’’ and their missions is “To be the foremost Football Club in Nigeria’’.
Rivers United F. C. took over Dolphins F. C. slot in the Nigerian Premier Football LEAGUE with a debut match against Enyimba International F. C. of Aba which was won by Rivers United.
How they got here?
The Nigerian side started the campaign in the CAF Champions League as runners up in their domestic league behind champions, Enugu Rangers.
At the preliminary round, they ejected Mali’s Real Bamako 4-0 on aggregate (won 4-0 at home and drew 0-0 away).
On to the next round, they won 3-0 against El Merriekh at home but the Sudan side, home to Ugandan goalie Jamal Salim overturned deficit by winning 4-0 in Khartoum and the side fell to the CAF Confederation Cup.
They eliminated Rwanda’s Rayon Sport 2-0 on aggregate to reach the group stages where they were drawn together with KCCA, Club Africain (Tunisia) and FUS Rabat (Morocco).
Performance so far
Like every other side in the group, they have won once and lost as many in the two matches so far played.
They won 1-0 against FUS Rabat in their previous game having lost 3-1 to Club Africain away, in a game they went on to miss a penalty at 2-1 minutes after the break.
League form
They qualified for the continental competitions after finishing runners up in the Nigeria Professional League.
They currently lie 9th on the log with 14 points, won 3, drew 5 and lost 2 of their 10 league outings so far.
Where do they play?
Their home stadium is the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Elekahia, Port Harcourt with a seating capacity of 30,000.
Like Phillip Omondi stadium, Lugogo, the pitch is artificial turf.