Yanga forward Donald Ngoma reacts during a recent Premier League match. The Zimbabwean will lead the frontline against APR today. PHOTO|FILE
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However, Yanga head coach Hans Van der Pluijm is upbeat his charges will emerge unscathed in today’s away encounter.
Dar es Salaam. Mainland champions Young Africans face an acid test today as they lock horns with APR of Rwanda in the first round, first leg of the African Champions League at the Amahoro Stadium.
However, Yanga head coach Hans Van der Pluijm is upbeat his charges will emerge unscathed in today’s away encounter.
The Jangwani side arrived in Kigali on Thursday morning, and the Dutchman immediately sent out a warning to their host that “we will be out to hurt them”.
Van der Pluijm is no stranger to the premier continental club championship and proved his worth by guiding Ghanaian debutants, Berekum Chelsea to the last eight in 2012, narrowly missing out on a place at the last four.
The Dutchman has since failed to replicate the feat with Yanga, missing out on the group stage on their two previous attempts.
The 67-year old believes the real journey towards realising their dream of a place at the pool stage starts against regional rivals, APR, after dismissing Cercle de Joachim of Mauritius at the prelims.
“We want to win against APR. It will be a tough game because we know we are facing a good side, but we want good results away from home, which will help us to eliminate them in Dar es Salaam in order to qualify. We will give it our best,” Van Pluijm said.
“We are ready for the challenge and are determined to win. We want to move to the next round and we believe that by good performance we can reach far. We feel good about our chance to get good results here.
“I’m sure we will come up against young and very experienced players, but we have worked hard in training and hopefully, we shall get value for the hard work we have put in over the last few weeks.”
The fixture will see Rwanda captain Haruna Niyonzima and compatriot Mbuyu Twite, now with Yanga lining up against their former employers.
For his part, APR new head coach Nizar Khanfir has set his main target, which is to win the home game, and convincingly.
The 59-year-old said: “We have watched some of the opponents’ games on video and we have analysed them.”
“It will be a tough game, especially for me as a new coach, but APR is a good side, they play good football except that that is not the style of football that I want to play.”
The return leg takes place next Saturday at the National Stadium.
