Young Africans (Yanga) players line up before their SportPesa Super Cup match against Kakamega Homeboyz at the Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on June 3, 2018. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 5- Tanzanian Premier League side Young Africans (Yanga) have warned Gor Mahia not to be fooled by their performance against Kakamega Homeboyz in the SportPesa Super Cup on Sunday where they lost 3-1, ahead of their CAF Confederations Cup meetings next month.
Yanga will travel to Nairobi for the first leg of their Group D clash on July 18 before inviting K’Ogalo to the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam for the corresponding tie 10 days later and the club has warned they will be a different side by then.
Assistant coach Juma Mensah notes that the CAF tie will be a different ballgame altogether.
“If you look at where we are coming from, seven of our key players were not here because of injury and we have also had an outbreak of malaria in the camp so the players were not at their best. The result of this game will have no bearing on our game against Gor Mahia. It will be a different ball game with a different approach,” Mensah said.
Yanga are currently bottom of Group D with a single point gained from their 0-0 draw at home with Rayon Sport having started their campaign with a hefty 4-0 loss at the hands of leaders USM Alger away in Algeria.
Yanga’s Papy Tshimbimbi in action during the side’s SportPesa Super Cup match against Kakamega Homeboyz at the Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on June 3, 2018. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
A loss against Gor will all but diminish their hopes of making it into the quarter finals.
Meanwhile, Gor Mahia boss Dylan Kerr also expects a different encounter against Yanga but added that he picked a few notes watching them play against Homeboyz on Sunday.
“I spoke to several of them who I knew from my time at Simba and they said they were not at their best because they have come off a long season and all they are thinking of now is taking holidays to rest. Of course it will be tougher when we meet them,” Kerr told Capital Sport.
He added; “I know them from before but I also took time to watch them and see what they are all about as at now. I noted their strengths and weaknesses and we have something to work on before we meet them.”
Yanga had a disappointing campaign in the Tanzanian Premier League where they finished third with 52 points, 17 off champions and arch rivals Simba SC.
Yanga’s Ibrahim Ajib in action during the side’s SportPesa Super Cup match against Kakamega Homeboyz at the Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on June 3, 2018. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
They had hoped to wipe off the blushes of a poor season with a good performance at the SportPesa Super Cup, but the loss against Homeboyz diminished their ambitions.
“It was unfortunate we gave away two goals by making schoolboy mistakes. We tried to come back at 2-1 but most of my players were coming from injury and illnesses, so we were not 100 percent. We have also had a difficult season. Overall the performance was below par. We hope to reorganize and come back strong,” Mensah noted.
The team will take a two week break before resuming training ahead of the Confederation Cup ties as well as the kick off of the new Tanzanian league campaign.
