Rivers United head coach Finidi George has expressed confidence after the club was paired against Côte d’Ivoire’s FC San Pedro in the first preliminary round of the 2026/27 CAF Champions League, describing the draw as favourable while cautioning that no opponent should be underestimated.
The Pride of Rivers learned their continental opponents during Thursday’s CAF Champions League preliminary round draw, setting up a two-legged clash with the Ivorian side as they seek a return to the competition’s group stage.
Although Rivers United avoided some of Africa’s traditional heavyweights in the opening round, Finidi insisted the tie would still demand thorough preparation.
Reacting to the draw, the former Super Eagles winger said he was pleased with the outcome but stressed that football often produces surprises.
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”Yeah, the draw, I would say, is not a bad one. But then, you don’t know what’s going to happen in these games. But it’s quite a fair one,” Finidi said.
The Rivers United coach revealed that his technical crew would immediately begin gathering information on FC San Pedro to formulate an effective strategy ahead of the encounter.
”We’ll try to see how we can know more about them and see how we can strategise. We’re going there first, so that’s a good thing. We’ll see how we can get a good result over there, and then we come back home and see how we can get to the next round of the preliminaries,” he added.
Rivers United qualified for the CAF Champions League after finishing second in the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League season. The Port Harcourt club will be aiming to improve on its previous outings in continental football and secure a place in the lucrative group stage.
The first leg of the preliminary round will be played in Côte d’Ivoire before the return fixture in Nigeria. Victory over FC San Pedro would see Rivers United progress to the second preliminary round, moving one step closer to competing among Africa’s elite clubs in this season’s CAF Champions League.
