NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9 – Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Shield champions Bandari FC begin their second sojourn into continental football on Saturday afternoon when they take on Sudanese side Al Ahly Shandy at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani in the CAF Confederations Cup preliminary round.
Bandari first played at the high table of African football in 2016 just after they won their first Shield title but were unlucky not to go past the preliminary round, losing 3-1 on aggregate to Congolese outfit St. Elloi Lupopo.
This time round, the dockers are targeting to go one better with an ultimate hope of making it into the group phase for the first time ever.
“I think the target always is to go better than the last time and as at now, that is the minimum target we are working on. I have talked to the boys and told them how important continental football is because that is where they can be exposed to more teams and they can advance their careers,” head coach Bernard Mwalala said.
The dockers have had one of the best pre-season training phases in their history, having gone for a week long camp in South Africa before travelling to Rwanda for the CECAFA Kagame Cup.
Mwalala admits as much and says the ball now is in the players’ coyrt to ensure they pick maximum points at home and get their campaign started on a flyer.
“With such home and away matches, the secret always is to do well in your home matches. This first game is very important for us and we need to go in and give our best to get a comfortable advantage. We are finishing off away from home and we got to ensure we take control of the game early,” the coach added.
Meanwhile, Mwalala has admitted he doesn’t know much about Shandy, but believes they will devise a workable strategy to get maximum points.
“It has been a bit difficult to get some clips of their game but what we have done is work on our own tactical plan for that game. If we can execute our strategy, I think we should not worry much about the other team,” stated the coach.