Nigerian clubs, Rivers United and Kano Pillars have said they will be looking to make make a far bigger impression in the 2020-21 CAF Confederation Cup than in the past, when competition gets underway on November 27.
United will face Futuro Kings of Equatorial Guinea over two legs for the right to play in the first round of Africa’s second-tier club competition. The ‘Pride of Rivers’ will visit Mongomo for the first leg where they will take on the three-year-old club at Futuro de Mongomo on November 29.
A week later, the coin will be flipped as the Port Harcourt club welcome the Kings to the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium for the second leg.
United have been shaping up for the competition with tune-up games in Port Harcourt and technical manager of the club, Stanley Eguma believes his side will be ready for the task at hand.
“We understand what it means to play in these kinds of competitions because we have been there before,” Eguma told SPNAfricaNews.
“Some news players have joined the team but we still have the core from the previous seasons.
“Many of these players have played in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup so we are sure that we will do a good job of giving Nigeria creditable representation in the competition,”
Pillars are wily continental campaigners as exemplified by five previous appearances in the CAF Champions League. They reached the semifinals in their first attempt in 2009.
Remarkably, the four-time Nigerian champions have never previously competed in the Confederation Cup. That will however not deter ‘Sai Masugida’ from making a charge to impress in the competition as they face Senegalese club, ASC Diaraf over two legs for the right to play in the first round.
Nyima Nwagua who has scored plenty of goals for the Kano club in previous seasons is certain Pillars will make progress to the next stage.
“We go away to Senegal first,” he said. “We know much is expected of us and we are capable of delivering.
“This year will be different from what we did last year (Pillars were eliminated in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League).”
