By Monica Iheakam
Rivers United head coach, Stanley Eguma has described today’s CAF Confederation Cup tie against Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) as a do or die affair.
The game billed for the Yakubu Gowon Stadium Port Harcourt is one that leaves little margin for error, for the Rivers United side , as any result other than an outright victory put to an end their aspirations of reaching the quarter finals of the competition.
Eguma, is as experienced as they come having helped Enyimba international of Aba (as assistant to Okey Emordi in 2005) claim CAF Champions League success.
He also coached Dolphins severally in inter-CAF club competitions in previous seasons and has practically seen it all as far as these sorts of matches are concerned.
“We are representing Nigeria, a very big country as far as football is concerned. It is a do-or-die game for us,” Eguma declared.
All the four teams in Group A, FUS Rabat (Morocco), Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA, Uganda), Club Africaine (Tunisia) and Rivers United (Nigeria) peerless at home thus far.
The Pride of Rivers have scored in all their previous continental matches at YGS against AS Real Bamako (Mali), Al Merreikh (Sudan), Rayon Sports (Rwanda) and FUS Rabat (Morocco).
Coming off last Thursday’s Uganda Cup triumph, KCCA, who beat Paidha Black Angels to complete their first-ever domestic double, flew to Nigeria in the right mood and team manager Mike Mutebi expects his boys to conjure up their maiden away continental victory this year.
Head coach of KCCA, Mike Hillary Mutebi acknowledges that things are evenly poised on a knife edge in the group and that goals difference could represent a tie-breaker eventually.
“Seeing the way we have been playing of late, there is a clear pattern of growth in the team. The players understand the game more now, which is why they are executing the tactics better,” Mutebi said.
Since their 0-3 loss to FUS Rabat in their opening group fixture, KCCA have beaten Club Africain 2-1 and Rivers 2-1 at home.
KCCA has lost all the four away games they have played on the continent this year. To stand a chance of making the quarterfinals, they will need to at least secure one away draw.