Rayon Sports readies for ‘physical Rivers United’, says Masudi

Rayon Sports have started preparations for the CAF Confederation Cup playoff round, first leg match against Nigerian side Rivers United which is slated for April 15 in Port Harcourt—the second leg will be played on April 22 at Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali. Djuma Masudi’s team started training this at Stade de Kigali in Nyamirambo and they are supposed to travel to Nigeria on April 13, two days before the match. The whole squad is in good shape and we want to keep the winning spirit from the national league. We want to play good football but the most important thing is to win matches. Our confidence is pretty high and hopefully we can get a good away result,” Masudi told Sunday Sport. He added, We are doing well for sure but we know it is hard to get good results in Nigeria. We are preparing well for the first leg so that we can come back with hope of qualifying for the next stage. We are going to give everything we can to get a result in the first leg. We will be looking to score but at the same time make sure we keep it tight at the back. Going by some of their videos that we’ve managed to watch, they play a physical game and we have to match them in that aspect. Rayon Sports reached the play-off round after their first round, second leg match against Malian side Onze Createurs was cancelled after FIFA’s suspended the Malian FA. Nigerian side Rivers United were knocked out of the CAF Champions League by El-Merreikh of Sudan following a 4-0 defeat in Khartoum after winning the first leg 3-0. The winner between Rayon Sports and Rivers United will proceed to the lucrative Champions League group stage. Meanwhile, Rayon Sports leading Rwanda Premier league with 55 points, 11 ahead of second-placed and defending champions APR FC. Port Harcourt-based Rivers United F.C was formed by the merger of Sharks F.C and Dolphins F.C in 2016--their stadium, Liberation Stadium in River State, has a seating capacity of 30,000. They finished second in the Nigerian Premier League last season but are currently struggling on 19th position in the 20-team league table, with 17 points albeit having three games less than most teams. editorial@newtimes.co.rw