Rivers United’s head coach, Finidi George, has clarified the reasoning behind his decision to position Timothy Zechariah as a left wide forward during Saturday’s victory against Black Bulls. This choice proved to be a brilliant strategy.
Finidi guided his team to a 3-1 triumph over the Mozambican champions at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, a result that marked the Pride of Rivers’ first-ever advancement to the group stage of the CAF Champions League.
Two of the three goals scored were attributed to the game’s Most Valuable Player, Zechariah, who had previously struggled as the team’s centre forward. Finidi assigned him a new role to penetrate the Black Bulls’ defense from the wings.
Analysts inquired about Finidi’s rationale for this decision, and the Super Eagles icon provided insight.
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“We observed that they (Black Bulls) utilize a 352 formation with wingbacks, which creates opportunities to exploit the spaces left by those wingbacks.
Therefore, we believed that in a match of this nature, we required a dribbler; at least someone capable of taking on defenders,” began Ajax.
“We are dealing with one or two injuries; Wisdom (Samuel) and others, who are genuine wingers, so we considered deploying Timothy on the left flank and shifting Ubong (Friday) to the right.
“We recognized his capabilities; we knew he could dribble, and we simply instructed him to reach the box as swiftly as possible, and we are pleased with how he executed that.”
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is set to conduct the draws for the group stage of the Inter Club competitions on November 3.
Prominent African teams, such as Al Ahly, Al Hilal, and Mamelodi Sundowns, have already secured their places in the group stage, alongside Rivers United.
