Yanga face an arduous task to reach last eight
Tanzania's Young Africans' (Yanga) Vincent Chikupe reacts to a challenge by Kenya's Gor Mahia FC's Ephrem Guikan during the (CAF) Confederation of African Football Cup match at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi on July 18, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / TONY KARUMBA
What you need to know:
- Young Africans were humiliated losing 4-0 to Gor Mahia in its third encounter held at the Moi International Sports Stadium and continue to sit at the bottom of the group D.
Dar es Salaam. The chances of the Mainland Tanzania representative, Young Africans to qualify for the quarter final of the CAF Confederation Cup are slim following the poor results in its three matches.
Young Africans were humiliated losing 4-0 to Gor Mahia in its third encounter held at the Moi International Sports Stadium and continue to sit at the bottom of the group D.
The defeat was the second for the Tanzania side which has only collected one point from three matches they have played. The team lost 4-0 in the first encounter against USM Alger of Algeria and later recorded a barren draw against Rwanda’s Rayon Sport at the National Stadium.
The Algerian side lead the standing with seven points while Gor Mahia is second with five points and Rayon Sport is third with two points. This means that Young Africans need victories in its three return leg matches to collect 10 points while ‘praying’ for poor results for other teams.
USM Alger need only four points to get assured of qualifying in the quarter finals while Gor Mahia need not less than six points to reach that stage.
The Tanzania side’s results have irked football lovers in the country and called on the team leaders to take the necessary measures in order to record victory despite the slim chance to qualify for the last eight stages.
The team’s former striker, Abed Mziba said the team faces uphill task to win all the three remaining matches due to the ability of the players they have.
“It is dream, for the team to excel, we have seen the team’s performance in all league matches as well as the recent match against Gor Mahia, and you need to stretch the muscle in order to win which is too late,” said Mziba.
Also football analyst in the country, Ally Mayay said it is difficult for the team to do better in the remaining matches and called on the team officials to focus the next league season.
“The match against Gor Mahia was a must win for the team, the results have been disappointing, us and they have to focus on the league season. This would be better for them,” said Mayay.
