Machupa – We’re Going to Bangui for Victory

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Doris Maliyaga

1 June 2011

Dar Es Salaam — Taifa Stars striker Athumani Machupa has warned the Central African Republic (CAR) to prepare for a fight of their lives when they clash in the Africa Cup of Nations return leg qualifier on Sunday.Stars and CAR met on March 26 here and the former fought back to win 2-1, the victory that threw the Group D wide open with all teams having a mathematical chance of qualifying for the 2012 finals.

The Jan Poulsen men, who drew the first leg tie against Algeria last August and lost at home to Morocco a month later, have bagged four points, same as Algeria, Morocco and CAR.

“The first leg encounter was very balanced, they scored first, but our never-say-die spirit paid dividends.Machupa said they are in the right mood for the match and noted: “Bangui is not an easy place for any team to win, but given the spirits our camp is enjoying, CAR really have to get ready for the fight of their lives.

“I confident that we’ll come back home with our heads high, we want all the points at stake in order to boost our qualification chances,” said the Stars veteran, who plays for a Swedish club, Vasalund IF.

TP Mazembe striker Mbwana Samatta echoed Machupa’s words and warned his Stars teammates to play with caution.”We are motivated and confident of getting positive results on Sunday, but CAR are a formidable team lately and we’ve to play with caution.”We have to improve our defensive play and try to get to the box at the right time, by doing we’ll win the match and put our 2012 finals hopes on track,” he said.

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