A 4-1 loss by Rivers United of Port Harcourt to Pyramids FC of Egypt last weekend in the CAF Champions League confirmed the Garden City club’s scandalous exit from the elite continental competition’s group stage, even with a game left to play.
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It was their third straight home defeat in the elite clubs’ money spinning competition, and it came a week after they fell 1-0 at the same venue – Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo – to Power Dynamos FC of Zambia.
Last weekend’s defeat marked an inglorious end to a campaign that promised so much when The Pride of Rivers became the first Nigerian clubside in 12 years to reach the CCL’s group stage.
They showed a lot of difference to the quality that was seen in the other representative from the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) and current champs, Remo Stars of Ikenne, who earlier also lost scandalously at home against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
Unfortunately for lovers of the NPFL, Rivers United have now followed the ignominious example earlier set by Remo Stars, and Nigeria’s club football sector is worst off for it. It also marks another low point in the sordid status of domestic football in the country, which took a major dip earlier on when the home-based Eagles fell like a pack of cards at the Championship of African Nations (CHAN).
The latest setback has accentuated how many critics keep scolding and slamming officials of the NPFL for the repeated inability of the country’s clubs to excel on the continental level … but I believe it’s mostly a systemic issue.
For me, the ‘inevitable’ ouster of Rivers United (with a game in hand) is another confirmation of the poor quality that we continue seeing among Nigeria’s domestic players. Some say poor coaching is also to be blamed, but I defer on the ground that a gaffer will not enter the pitch to execute his lofty ideas.
That view, though, is in start contrast with what applies in Europe, where coaches are sacked once the team picks a series of bad results. On the other hand, the peculiar style that applies in Nigeria is to give coaches a long rope to either save their jobs or hang themselves.
So, rather than slam Finidi George for failing to lead Rivers United to El-Dorado, I make bold to berate his players for their inability to paint themselves in glory when it mattered most. Just as it was at CHAN 2025, another array of Nigeria’s home-based players failed to make us proud.
Unlike the case of Remo Stars, who appeared to suffer in the CCL due to their owner’s decision to transfer several of their key players to European clubs, Rivers United fell flat due to the inability of their players to step up beyond the scrappy style of play that we see from most teams in the NPFL.
Incidentally, as I put my views into writing on this topic, a counter-argument arose that Enyimba of Aba made the NPFL proud when they won the CCL back-to-back in 2003 and 2004.
So, what difference did they have at that time compared to nowadays?
1. They had the best players from all across Nigeria and kept them together over a long period of time.
2. They were backed by lots of government money propelled by the executive power of a football loving governor.
3. The technical quality of most African clubs of that era was not as advanced as it is nowadays.
In effect, for a Nigerian club to do well in the modern-day CCL, the following factors must come into play:
1. The team would need massive funding by a state government or huge corporate sponsorship.
2. The players must have stayed together continuously for up to three years as a compact squad.
3. The coaching crew will have to find a way in which the players will change their approach from kick-and-rush styles they are used to in the NPFL.
4. They must adopt well-coordinated technical styles and smooth tactics in all their games.
Amazingly, though, in spite of their shortfalls during the ongoing CCL, Rivers United are on course to win the NPFL this season.
Looking at that reality leaves me already lamenting in expectation of another torrid run in the UCL next year … unless the PH side adopt all four factors outlined above before they go for another continental campaign (or misadventure).
