NPFL side Rivers United have been handed a tough quarter-final opponent in this season's CAF Confederation Cup.
Nigeria's only surviving team in CAF inter-club competitions will play against the defending champions, USM Alger, following the draw that was held on Tuesday, March 12, in Cairo, Egypt.
Eight teams are set to compete in the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup after the conclusion of the group stage, with the reigning champions headlining the eight clubs that went into the draw.
Four clubs that lifted the title in recent years are in the hunt for this year's title – apart from last year's winners, Stade de Malien, RS Berkane, as well as Zamalek are all in still the pool.
The final list of quarter-finalists are Nigeria’s Rivers United, Dreams FC of Ghana, Abu Salem of Libya, and Egyptian side Modern Future.
Interestingly, the Algerian side further went on to lift the CAF Super Cup against record CAF Champions League holders Al Ahly of Egypt.
Confederation Cup draw procedure and outcome for Rivers United
According to the organizers of the competition, four group winners will be seeded for the draw while the runners-up will not be among the seeds.
“The seeded teams will be drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other, while teams from the association could be drawn against one another.”
The first leg of Rivers United's quarter-final will be played on March 31 at the Godswill Akpabio International stadium in Uyo, while the return leg will be held on April 7.
Other quarter-final fixtures would see an all-Egyptian clash when Modern Future FC tackle former champions, Zamalek SC.
Abu Salem will play Moroccan outfit RS Berkane over two legs while fairytale runners Dreams FC will trade tackles with former champions Stade Malien of Mali for a place in the semis.
The semi-final pairings have also been concluded with the winners of Rivers United versus USMA playing against the winners of the ties between Abu Salem and 2021 champions RS Berkane.
The other path to the final would see Stade Malien or Dreams FC go head to head against one of the Egyptian teams at this stage, Modern Future FC or Zamalek SC in the semifinals.
Rivers United know what's at stake
The Port-Harcourt based side were eliminated at this stage last and will be looking to avoid a repeat of the heartbreak with their sights firmly set on becoming the first Nigerian side to win the elusive title for the country.
Chief Coach of Rivers United, Evans Ogenyi speaking after a league game admitted that the team's aim is to go all the way and the earlier they get it right on the homefront, the better their chances on the continent.
“We have dropped a lot of points at home. The earlier we start picking points the better for us. Because in the next few weeks, we will be playing the first leg quarter-finals at home and we need to gel,” he said.
“We need to start making statements in the league. It is quite painful but I want to appeal to our fans to still be patient. We will take every match very seriously.”
Group stage dramatic finale
The Pride of Rivers had needed a dramatic late win to snatch all three points in their last group game against Ghanaian side Dreams FC in Uyo, which all but guaranteed qualification to this next stage.
APC Lobito of Angola had caused a stir by surprisingly playing out a 1-1 draw against high flyers Club Africain of Tunisia in Tunis.
The result in Tunis interestingly impacted the final group standings directly, as it relegated Club Africain to third place behind Rivers United, who finished second with 12 points, the same as Dreams FC, who finished first due to a superior goal difference.
