Young Africans of Tanzania (Yanga) coach Nasreddine Nabi said he is stunned that his team came to Nigeria to defeat Rivers United 2-0.
OsunDaily News has reported that the Young Africans stunned Rivers United when the team defeated the NPFL reigning champions in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup quarterfinal encounter in Uyo on Sunday.
The team from Tanzania shocked the hosts with two well-taken goals in the second half from Congolese attacker Fiston Mayele. In the 74th minute, he scored the game’s first goal. A few minutes later, he added another goal to give his team a big advantage heading to the second leg.
The goals were a noteworthy milestone for the striker, who has now scored 50 goals for the team.
Nasreddine thinks that despite Yanga’s well-executed strategy, the game’s result was unexpected as they largely limited their opponents to far-off options.
He highlighted, however, that the results of previous games against their hosts had no bearing on them and that there was still a lot on the line in the return leg.
“We came to Nigeria to get everything knowing the caliber of our opponents. It’s quite surprising for me however because we know it is difficult to win in Nigeria. I had confidence in my players for a good result, but I wasn’t expecting a score like 2-0,” the coach said after the game.
“As I said before the game, we didn’t come for revenge, we came to qualify for the next round. In 2021, we weren’t ready but now we are more serious about what we want to achieve and we are focused on that. However, the game is not finished and I know Nigerian players have the attitude.”
