President of Alpha United Football Club, Odinga Lumumba, yesterday said that his team has been steadily preparing for the second leg of the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) Champions Cup tournament.
Speaking to media operatives during a press conference at the Water Chris Hotel, Lumumba stated that his hope was for the team to progress to the World Club Championships.
But to get there Alpha United will first have to go through the regional qualifying stage of the tournament.
Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United, who are the defending Kashif and Shanghai Champions, will be looking to hammer their way through the regional competition but will first have to get past River Plate in the second leg of the CFU Championships.
This is the third year Alpha United has been selected for the CFU Champions Cup and this time around they got an easy pass to the second leg after Bassa Sports Club of Antigua & Barbuda withdrew from the competition.
Alpha United will take on River Plate, who arrives in Guyana on Tuesday, in two games on April 15 and April 17.
“River plate is a club that is registered in Puerto Rico but it is really Argentina’s third (club) team… we played them last year in a divisional tournament and drew with them one all, but lost to a Trinidad team before getting to the final round,” Lumumba explained.
“We expect it to be a tough championship, but we think we are going to beat them,” he added.
The two games were scheduled to be home and away games but, according to Lumumba, River Plate has agreed to play both games in Guyana “with the understanding that we are going to cover all their expenses and support them partially for their air transportation.”
Lumumba said it was more economical to play the matches in Guyana and Alpha will get more support at home.
On April 15 the game will be played at the National Stadium, Providence at 20:00 hours while on April 17 the game will be played at GCC ground, Bourda at 15:00 hours.
Lumumba observed that the team has been continuously preparing for the upcoming encounters.
“The preparation is continuous. You don’t wait until you have a match to prepare yourselves.”
He added that the team has more improved and better developed players than last year and they will strive to do their best in the tournament.
