Matchday 4 of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) came with ups and downs for the teams, with the upside being that some home teams won while the rest shared points with their visitors.
One of the teams that shared points with their hosts were Rivers United. Picking up a point on the road is not bad considering the competitiveness of the NPFL, but it did not go down well with the Port-Harcourt based side’s coach.
Head Coach Stanley Eguma was said to be unhappy at the outcome of the game in the dressing room, saying that they had all it took to get all three points against Sunshine Stars.
“I hate making excuses so it’s hard to come to terms with why we failed to win this game.
“We also came close (to winning) our opening game of the season against Niger Tornadoes in Minna but missed three excellent chances in the second half,” coach Eguma told riversunitedfc.com.ng.
However, looking ahead to his next game against Group A table-toppers of the abridged league, he has decided to shrug off the last fixture and focus on the match against Lagos based MFM FC.
“Now, we must get it right against MFM in Port Harcourt in our next game,” he said.
Eguma, being somewhat of a perfectionist, has set majestic goals for his side in the 2018/2019 NPFL season.
“We want to win everything this season. That is the target.
“I told the boys before we played our first game [of the season against Niger Tornadoes] that the mindset has to be getting a win in Minna, a very difficult place and we almost did it.
“It was the same [mindset] before we faced Sunshine Stars and we were even closer to winning against a very good opponent at a very tough place,” he said.
It is said that Port-Harcourt fans love football with flair, that will look like a Spanish LaLiga game, and have also been known to support visiting teams if they produce football that brings the thrills and leaves them with goosebumps.
And the coach knows this well and wants his lads to “put up a show” when they host The Adekoya Boys on Sunday.
“MFM is currently the best team in our group of the abridged league as they have won their last two games [against Kwara United and Enugu Rangers] after losing to Enyimba in Aba on the opening weekend of the league.
“We know what to expect. We are not going to try to win 1-0. No, that’s not what we want to do.
“We respect MFM FC, we know it will be a hard match but we want to win comprehensively and put up a show because it is our first game of the season.
“We want to entertain our fans.
“It is [going to be] a tricky match because MFM have also done well.
“Most of our players have never played [competitively in Port Harcourt] before so we have to be at our best for us to win that game.
“It is not a game to toy with because MFM have proven that they are a good side,” he said.
MFM FC currently
