YOUNG Africans coach Nasreddine Nabi said his charges are ready to face USM Alger as they meet in the first leg CAF Confederation Cup final match at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam today.
The two teams are searching for a maiden entry into CAF Confederation Cup history as the tournament’s champions.
The match will give a first glimpse of who really deserves to lift high the prestigious CAF title for the first time and that makes the two-legged match tense to the both sides.
After today’s clash, they will meet in a return verse leg encounter in Algeria on Saturday where the new champions will be decorated with the silverware.
“Our preparation programme was done in three categories that included putting players physically fit, analysing videos on how our opponents play and engaging in tactical drills,” said Nabi at a pre-match briefing on Saturday.
Commenting on how his squad is going to be affected for missing the services of midfielder Khalid Aucho, he said he hopes that those who will cover his space will perform to his expectations.
“Of course, we would have loved to have him (Aucho) in this match but football has got its regulations. Those tasked to play will ensure that they put it all on the pitch to get the results we want.
“Here in Dar es Salaam, we are beginning the match which is set to end in Algeria hence the most important thing is to generate good results in order to win the championship,” said Nabi.
His centre-back Dickson Job pledged to sacrifice themselves by 100 per cent throughout the game for the sake of finishing the good work they already started.
“We want to create history of being a class of Yanga players who drove them to the confederation cup success a feat that many players wanted to achieve but failed to do so,” Job said.
On his part, USM Alger coach Abdelhak Benchikha said they have also prepared well for the game and they are looking forward to positive results.
“We are aware that the game is going to be tough but we have our plan and our intention is to make sure that we play a good match so that in the end, we can generate good outcomes prior to the second leg match,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yanga through their verified Instagram page announced yesterday that all tickets for the match against USM Alger have been sold out hence the game is to unfold in a full house.
The country’s biggest stadium has a capacity to accommodate 60,000 fans and President Samia Suluhu Hassan was the one who opened ticket selling exercise for fans after buying 5,000 tickets.
Thereafter, stakeholders, institutions and individuals also joined the chain of buying extra tickets so that many people can be part of the history making encounter.
