Singida Big Stars coach rues costly mistakes

TANZANIA: SINGIDA Big Stars interim coach Ramadhan Nsanzurwimo apologised for the team’s failure to qualify for the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup (CAF CC), rueing individual mistakes for the 4-1 mauling to 10-men Future of Egypt on Sunday.

The Tanzanian envoys, who took a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg played in Dar es Salaam, paid for costly mistakes as they were sent crashing out of the continental second tier in their debut appearance in CAF competitions.

Any dream of reaching the lucrative Confederation Cup group stage went up in smoke after a late capitulation at Al-Salaam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, where the hosts who had a player sent off with the score at 2-1, bagged two late goals largely aided by defensive blunders by the visitors.

“Let me take this chance to apologise to all Tanzanians for letting them down but we have learned positive things that will make us bounce back stronger next year if we get another opportunity,” said Nsanzurwimo.

He rued individual mistakes by his players, saying they contributed to the big loss, while insisting that it was a perfect learning platform.

“What we have learned from the two qualifying matches will be used to do well in our upcoming premier league fixtures where we also need to put more energy,” he remarked.

Nsanzurwimo, who is Singida Big Stars Technical Director, was temporarily tasked to take charge of the team following the sudden departure of their former coach Ernst Middendrop.

On his part, the club’s president Japhet Makau accepted the outcome, saying the stage that had been reached by his team was not bad at all.

“We are pleased to reach this stage despite being our first time to compete in the Confederation Cup…we are hopeful that next season, when we get another opportunity, we will do much better,” he said.