Finidi George hails Rivers United’s historic CAF Champions League group stage qualification

Boluwatife Kehinde
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‎As Rivers United advance to the CAF Champions League group stage, keeping alive their ambition of becoming only the second Nigerian club to achieve that milestone, head coach Finidi George has expressed pride in his team’s historic accomplishment their first-ever qualification for the group stage and in ending Nigeria’s six-year wait for representation at this level.
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‎The Pride of Rivers sealed their qualification with a 3–1 win over Black Bulls of Mozambique, confirming their spot in the 2025/26 CAF Champions League group stage.
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‎Having suffered a 1–0 defeat in the first leg, Rivers United bounced back in front of their home fans to claim a 3–2 aggregate victory, standing tall as Nigeria’s only surviving club on the continent this season following the exits of Remo Stars, Kwara United, and Abia Warriors.
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‎This qualification also marks Finidi George’s first experience in Africa’s elite club competition as a manager since his return to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) in 2021. The former Super Eagles winger took charge of Rivers United last season after spending about three years with Enyimba and a brief spell as Nigeria’s national team head coach.
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‎The ex-international expressed his delight at the achievement and looked ahead to the next challenge.
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‎“I’m very happy with the victory and the tough battle it took to get here. Qualifying means a lot to everyone in the team. We’ve been waiting for this moment, and it’s finally happened. Personally, it’s a great achievement, and now we’ll see how best we can compete in the group stage,” Finidi told journalists after the match.
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‎“Once the draws are made, we’ll take each game as it comes. The competition is tough, so we’ll likely bring in one or two players to strengthen the team. For now, we’ll enjoy this moment and focus on the matches ahead. We could have taken something from the first leg in Mozambique because we had plenty of chances, but we made up for it here at home. Scoring three goals was the perfect response, and we fully deserve this qualification,” Finidi added.
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‎The atmosphere inside the Godswill Akpabio Stadium was electrifying as Rivers United chased redemption after their first-leg loss. Their persistence paid off in the 42nd minute, when Maclyn Biokpo confidently slotted home a penalty to put the hosts ahead and give them a 2–1 advantage on aggregate.
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‎But Black Bulls refused to give up. Just two minutes into the second half, Moctar Diallo struck for the visitors, leveling the tie 2–2 on aggregate and setting up a tense final phase.
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‎Finidi’s men, however, maintained their composure and showed remarkable resolve. In the 76th minute, Timothy Zachariah produced a brilliant moment of inspiration — firing in a stunning long-range effort to secure a 3–1 win on the night and 3–2 on aggregate.
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‎The victory means Rivers United become the first Nigerian club to reach the CAF Champions League group stage since Lobi Stars did so in the 2018/19 season.