TANZANIA: YOUNG Africans Coach, Miguel Gamondi has said they do not feel any pressure at all ahead of their second leg quarterfinal against Mamelodi Sundowns.
The two teams lock horns in the CAF Champions League at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa on Friday.
The reverse leg CAF Champions League (CAF CL) quarter-final match comes after the teams ended in a goalless draw in Dar es Salaam, last week, and the rule is that the overall winner advances into the semi-finals of the contest.
Speaking yesterday at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam before departing for South Africa, Gamondi remarked that his side is not under pressure.
“I think they (Mamelodi Sundowns) are the ones with pressure to qualify for the semi-finals and are among the candidates to win the Championship League title this season. “As such, it will be another tactical difficult game and I believe in my team, my players, that hopefully we are going to have a good game,” he said.
Gamondi added that they will try to be compact and score goals, saying in the first leg match they created some good scoring opportunities but could not change them into goals.
“We need to be clinical and try to score from the chances that come by…it will be a high-level match but I am optimistic that we will do well in the end,” he said.
Commenting on the progress of injured players in his squad, he said midfielder Khalid Aucho is doing normal training sessions with his colleagues while Pacome Zouzoua and Yao Kouassi are still recovering.
On his part, the club’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andre Mtine, cemented that they have no pressure and that their focus is to try to win the encounter.
He also seized the platform to encourage more Yanga fans residing in South Africa to come out in big numbers and cheer their team throughout the match.
“In South Africa, we have many supporters and you saw that when we played against Marumo Galants in the CAF Confederation Cup (CAF CC) last year. As such, we urge them to do the same,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a group of 48 Yanga fans left the country on a bus en route to South Africa to back up their team and the trip has been fully funded by the government through the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports at the tune of 40.8m/-.