Pluijm takes positives from Confed Cup exit

Dar es Salaam.  Despite the pain of Yanga’s Confederation Cup failure, head coach Hans van der Pluijm can still see a silver lining.
The Jangwani Street outfit signed off their Confederation Cup campaign with a 3-1 loss to TP Mazembe on Tuesday in Lubumbashi.
Yanga played six Group A matches, winning once, drawing once and losing four times. They bowed out of the Africa’s second tier club championship with four points.
However, despite their failure, the Dutch tactician takes positives only as he shifts his focus to the new Vodacom Premier League season.
“The team had the will and determination to qualify for advanced stages, but unfortunately, they met better opponents. We have to pick up the pieces and move forward.”
“We have learnt many lessons from this championship. It was a long journey, but we can still hold our head up high. We just have to work on what we learned with a view to improving.”
Pluijm added: “Our focus now shifts to the league; it is my hope that we will start with a bang and march on to the defence of our title.”
Yanga will kick off their title defence on Sunday when they welcome African Lyon at the National Stadium before playing JKT Ruvu three days later at the same facility.
Pluijm lavished praise on shot-stopper Deogratius Munishi for his outstanding performance on Tuesday.
The goalkeeper made a string of fine saves to rescue 10-man Yanga from a hiding.