Edwin Okon: We want to participate and leave a mark
Rivers Angels boss Edwin Okon faces a stern test in the TotalEnergies CAF Women's Champions League as he looks to make it out of a group that features Kenya's Vihiga Queens, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and Morocco's ASFAR.
The Jewel of Rivers are in fine form domestically, winning the Nigerian league seven times. They are hence one of the favourites in progressing out of the Champions League 'Group of Death'.
"I want to thank God for qualification to the competition first and as for the draws, I don't think anything is impossible," said Okon while reacting to the draw held recently in Cairo.
"As far as football is concerned, every group is a good group. Our group might as well be a group of death like you know but one has to be prepared to meet any team at whatever level.
"So I don't see any group as a group of death, it is either you prepare well and do well or you prepare badly and do badly."
At August's WAFU-B zonal qualifiers in Cote d'Ivoire, Rivers could not win the regional title following a 3-1 final loss to Ghana's Hasaacas Ladies. The burden of making amends will be on Okon as the Nigerian giants gear up for the finals.
"It's still a work in progress, as you can see we are already in Benin City for this (Betty Obaseki Cup) tournament because we are trying to see what we have on the ground", said Nigeria's 2014 Africa Women's Cup of Nations winning coach.
"We still have one more preseason (Flying Officier Cup in Abuja) to attend after this and that will help us work on some lapses ahead of the big one in Egypt."
Smarting from their WAFU-B failure, the ego bruised Port Harcourt side have moved to improve their squad as Okon is confident they can leave a lasting impression on the land of Pharoah come November.
"The target is to put up a better outing at the continent stage and the only way we can achieve this is by having an adequate preparation.
"We don't want to be in Egypt to make up numbers but to participate and leave a mark," he concluded.