CAFCL: Finidi admits Rivers United’s hopes fading

Rivers United Technical Manager, Finidi George, has admitted that his side no longer have a realistic chance of reaching the knockout stage of the 2025/2026 CAF Champions League following their 1-0 defeat to Power Dynamos on Sunday.

The Matchday Four Group A clash, played at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, saw the Zambian visitors score shortly after the restart to compound the Nigerian champions’ struggles. Kondwani Chiboni struck five minutes into the second half, leaving Rivers United winless after four group matches.

With three defeats and one draw in the group, Rivers United are rooted at the bottom of Group A. Finidi has now shifted focus to ending the campaign on a positive note, aiming for morale-boosting results in their remaining fixtures against Pyramids FC of Egypt and Morocco’s RS Berkane.

“We definitely want to get our first victory in the competition. We know that we are going to play against the two top teams in the group — Pyramids of Egypt and RS Berkane of Morocco — in the last two games,” Finidi said during the post-match press conference.

“But all is possible in football, even though qualification for the knockout stage is very difficult — almost impossible. We still want to show character and at least get a win in the last two games.”

The former Nigeria international expressed disappointment over his side’s slow start, which he believes played a key role in the defeat, especially after last weekend’s draw in Ndola, Zambia.

“I feel we started the game slowly — a game we were supposed to win. We were passing the ball too much at the back, and that gave them more time to organise properly,” he said.

Read Also: Finidi confident as Rivers United face Pyramids FC in CAF Champions League

“After they scored, we came all out to try to get an equaliser. We created a lot of chances, but we couldn’t convert any of them.”

Finidi felt Rivers United deserved more from the second half, having dominated proceedings but lacking cutting edge in front of goal.

“It’s quite disappointing. In the second half, I thought we had a couple of chances to score two or three goals, but it didn’t happen. That’s football for you,” he added.

“I have to congratulate Power Dynamos for how they defended and for the lucky goal they scored. We conceded from just a pull-out — it’s unfortunate, but it’s part of football.”

The former Enyimba head coach was careful not to blame his players, instead highlighting a lack of experience at this level as a contributing factor.

“In a game like this, you have to be very aggressive in the first 20 minutes, and I felt we were a bit passive,” Finidi explained.

“If we had used the same energy we showed in the last 25 to 30 minutes of the second half right from the start, I think we could have scored before they did. It’s quite unfortunate.”

Finidi also noted that many players in the squad are experiencing continental football for the first time.

“For most of the players we have now, this is a learning process. If you take out two or three players from the squad, none of the rest has even played in the CAF competitions before,” he said.

“They will learn from this. If we find ourselves in this situation next season, I believe the players will do better. But for now, it’s quite unfortunate.”

The post CAFCL: Finidi admits Rivers United’s hopes fading appeared first on Sporting Life.