Alpha, River Plate ready to rumble tonight
GUYANA’S top club Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United and Puerto Rico-based River Plate Football Club are pumped and ready for this evening’s clash, the first of two matches in the second round of the 2011 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championships. The game is set to start at 20:00 h and nothing but a night of aggressive football is promised to patrons heading to the Guyana National Stadium, with the grudge match between Pele and BK International western Tigers setting the tone for the night.
Primarily, the tournament is played on a home and away basis but it was made known that the two sides brokered an agreement after the non-availability of the football stadium in Puerto Rico (under construction) to have both matches played in Guyana, with the second match set for Sunday.
Both sides are entering the game with the optimism of advancing to the next round. This will be the second meeting between the two sides who faced each other in Trinidad and Tobago in the 2010 leg where they drew 1-1 before surrendering their other matches to the Island’s Professional league side, San Juan Jabloteh.
At a press conference hosted on Wednesday at the Water Chris Hotel, both sides made it known that to participate in the tournament calls for a great amount of financial effort and as such, advancing to the other round will be just reward.
However, as the rules of the competition stipulate, only one could advance making it an even more interesting affair with both clubs who have spent a great deal in preparation hoping to have their efforts pay off.
Little or nothing is left to be known of the two-time national league champions, whose president Odinga Lumumba remained tight-lipped about his side at the press conference, saying “who I have before the game would be like me selling guns to the enemy”.
One thing is for certain, both sides are made up of its country’s top players except that River Plate is made up of predominantly Argentines.
Club manager Claudio Alvarez said his side came to Guyana not a weak bunch, but could’ve been stronger had their top five players not been caught up in Argentina with “paper work problems” but nonetheless, their replacements are just as good and will be competitive.
Howard Lowe, Guyana’s national captain will once again wear the armband for his club and the tall, well-built defender will have some of his fellow national teammates in the likes of attacking mid-field player Dwain Jacobs, Philbert Moffat and Kevin McKenzie on his side.
Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams, who scored the lone goal for Alpha the last time they played the same opponents, will once again be expected to carry the brunt of the attack for ‘The Hammer’ boys.
For the visitors, Puerto Rico’s national striker Christopher Megaloudis who played Major League Soccer (MLS) with the Red Bulls in the USA, will lead the side out on the field and will have other standout players on his side.
Like Alpha, River Plate did not divulge too much information pertaining to their final eleven, but promised a classic showdown which will see them walking away as the victors at the end of the two-match battle.
National coach Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover who also executes the same role with Alpha, believes that he has learnt a lot from the previous meeting a year ago and with that in mind, he has set a game plan to not have a repeat of the previous results.