TZW
Ninje revealed that during the post-match press briefing after his team posted a barren draw against DR Congo in U-20 AFCON qualifying tie at the National Stadium in the city on Saturday.
“It is obvious that our opponents were physically better than us, but this will not deter us to fight for victory in the second leg match in Kinshasa three weeks later,” Ninje said. Adding, Ninje pointed out that in return leg, they will open up and attack throughout the clash since that is the only way to register tangible results from the away territory. “When you play against a team which is better, you need to be quick enough and play a fast football which we did today but it was not enough.
The good thing is that we have identified the weaknesses and strength of our opponents, hence we will work on them for our benefit,” he said. In his words, Heroes striker Asadi Juma said the game was difficult despite creating hosts of scoring chances of which they failed to turn into goals. “We hope that we will do better in the return match because the technical bench has analysed the encounter such that if we thoroughly prepare, we can win.
If they managed to draw here, likewise we can win at their turf. We only need more supporters to rally behind us during the second match in Kinshasa,” Juma said. DRC Coach Jean Mukanya lauded Tanzania for showing brilliant football of which he said prevented them from sourcing a crucial away goal. “Honestly, Tanzania has good players who will make a competitive national team in few years to come such that we will be forced to play cautiously at home,” Mukanya noted.
To progress into the next stage of the qualifiers, Ngorongoro Heroes will be required to win by any margin in the return leg match slated for April 22 this year at the Complexe Omnisports stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa. Ninje’s squad is dominated by graduates of the Under- 17 side which competed in the U-17 Africa Youth Championship (AYC) in Gabon early last year.