FADLU Davids has a goal. It is an objective, really. A target if you like.
But he is realistic enough to know that such goals are way too lofty and should probably be classified as dreams.
“I’d like to win 2-0,” the South African coach of Tanzania’s Simba SC responds when I ask him what it is he wants out of Saturday afternoon’s CAF Confederation Cup first leg, final clash against RS Berkane in Morocco.
The chuckle that follows tells you he knows he’s being a tad over-ambitious. But why go into such a huge match if you don’t dream big? They do say ‘reach for the stars and, if you fall short, you may land on the moons’ after all.
“A nil-nil will be more in Berkane’s favour. So, it is imperative for us to score. My main target and what I want out of this is to try and score a goal. If we can score more than that we will be set for the second leg.”
Davids has faith in how his team plays and though he admits they are underdogs, he is hopeful they can cause an upset.
“Yes, we are a team that does not concede much and we trust our processes of playing matches in the opposition half.
“We just need to be wary of their counter-press.
“So, we are going to look to dominate the ball more in Berkane, be wary of their quick attacks and direct movements and those runs and their five front players who are extremely dangerous they can create and score.”
Berkane are the huge favourites though, the Moroccans much more experienced than Simba – a factor that Davids acknowledges.
“We are facing a team with a big pedigree in this competition. They’ve won it more than once and have been in many finals in the past.
“They are a team that knows how to play this competition, they have experience and they’ve kept more or less the same team from last season.
“So, they have a very, very experienced squad compared to my young team most of whom are getting into the final for the first time. In my squad only Fabrice Ngoma has won the cup with Raja.”
That youthful exuberance could work for Simba though because the players are not going to be hindered by past experiences.
“Yes we are young and fresh and energetic and we will use it to our advantage. So it is good on the one hand that they are young and excited and they will go all out to impress. But experience helps in this competition.
“An example is that in the semi-finals when we played Stellenbosch FC we created more and better chances but scored just ones.
Berkane against Constantine, they scored four, that’s experience. And then all they had to do in the second leg was to defend and manage the game.”
A good thing for the inexperienced Simba is that their coach has it aplenty, Davids having actually faced Berkane as an assistant coach in the final of the same competition three years ago when he was working for Orlando Pirates.
“it definitely helps,” the former Maritzburg United coach says.
“The last final was a little different because it was a one match in a neutral zone in Nigeria. This is going to be over two legs and it gives us a slight advantage because we are playing the second leg at home.
“But there’s still the away goals rule, we cannot be playing openly. It makes for a tricky match because you don’t want to concede at home.”
That fact notwithstanding, Davids is going to stick to his style of play.
“I will approach like all the other away games, we will try to score away and be pragmatic in terms of defending.
“We could get results in Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, now we’re going to the last one Morocco.
“We’ve had good experiences in North Africa and let’s see what happens.
“I know Morocco and I know the Moroccans way of playing and it’s important to pass that knowledge to the players and execute a game plan that will help.”
Davids says it will be important for Simba to handle the Berkane crowd.
“Berkane are very strong at home, they demolished Constantine 4-0 and beat Stellies five.
“Their stadium is very intimidating, it has a compact field and the fans are right on top of you singing for 90 minutes.
“You have to be very strategic in your play. You cannot be open like you usually do in other matches.”
Would such an approach yield the 2-0 victory he dreams of?
