The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Charles Nyende
31 March 2011
Nairobi — Sofapaka stand-in coach Ezekiel Akwana has promised a ferociously attacking game in their Confederation Cup, first round, second leg match against Ismaili at Nyayo Stadium tomorrow to try and overturn a 2-0 goal advantage enjoyed by the Egyptian club.
“I aim to play high with the ball and play high without the ball and hope to capitalise on any mistakes Ismaili make,” Akwana said.”We committed too many mistakes in our first leg clash and played badly in our own quarter. We do not want to do that in Nairobi.”The coach conceded he had no option but to attack all out and put pressure on the Egyptians from the first whistle.
But Akwana’s attack-minded approach could already have suffered a setback following the uncertainty of his lead striker’s availability.On Wednesday, Akwana openly expressed his worry over Bob Mugalia, who limped off the pitch in Kenya’s 3-0 international friendly loss to Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.
“It will be a big blow for us if Mugalia does not recover.
He is one of our dependable strikers, together with John Baraza,” Akwana said. Sofapaka are also sweating over the unavailability of key players in defence.
Akwana will have to completely reorganise his backline because of the absence of stalwarts Edgar Ochieng, who is suspended after picking two yellow cards in the tournament and George Owino, who is recovering from a knee injury.
The coach said he would employ international James Situma and Dodo Kayombo as his central defence pairing. Akwana also said he will be fully in charge of tomorrow’s clash even with the arrival of the club’s head coach Francis Kimanzi.”We are expecting him today and we will welcome him. But he cannot be in charge of the game.
He may give us tips but he has not been involved in the Ismaili tie and will not know much about what is going on,” Akwana said.
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Link:
Tanzania: Depleted Sofapaka Upbeat Ahead of Ismaili Tie