Yanga jetted off yesterday morning to
Moroni in time for the first leg clash at the Stade de Moroni. A total
of 20 players and eight members of the technical bench plus two
officials left ahead of the match.
The club’s General Secretary, Charles
Boniface Mkwasa, told journalists on Friday that seven players have not
been included in the list of 30-strong contingent to Moroni due to
various reasons. Zimbabwean striker Donald Ngoma and defender Vincent
Bossou have not been included in the trip to Comoro.
He said Zimbabwean striker, Ngoma and
Malimi Busungu will not travel with the team because they are sick,
while defender Vincent Andrew is serving three yellow cards suspension
picked last year during the CAF Confederation Cup campaign. Togolese
central defender, Bossou, holding midfielder, Pat Ngonyani and
goalkeeper Beno Kakolanya will also not make the trip and will wait for
the return leg encounter.
In Ngoma’s absence, Yanga Head Coach
George Lwandamina will look to fellow country-mate youngster Obrey
Chirwa who will partner Burundian striker Amissi Tambwe to find the back
of the net against the islanders.
In central defence, skipper Nadir Haroub
is expected to be restored to partner Kelvin Yondani, while Juma Abdul
and Haji Mwinyi will complete the back four to protect goalkeeper
Deogratius Munishi. Zimbabwean Thaban Kamusoko and gifted Rwandese
Haruna Niyonzima will take control of the midfield.
The Jangwani Street side will target to
better their last season performance, where they were eliminated in the
second round by Egyptian side Al Ahly 3-2 on aggregate before dropping
to the CAF Confederation Cup where they fell short in the group stages
finishing fourth in Group B.
Lwandamina’s side will be eyeing nothing
but a clear victory against the dark horse to put themselves in a
comfortable zone in the return leg match at home. Yanga are scheduled to
face their opponents in the return leg match at the National Stadium in
Dar es Salaam two weeks later.
Niyonzima said, “We learnt a lot from
last year’s edition of the Champions League. Now we know that it is
important for us to start well especially because we are playing away
first.”
“We do not know much about the team but
we shall be looking to get the best result which is a win and if that
does not happen, at least we should get a draw so that we do not have a
lot of pressure in the return leg” he said. Yanga were expected to
attend light training session yesterday evening at the venue where the
match will be played.
Last year, Yanga defeated Cercle de
Joachim from Mauritius 3-0 on aggregate in the preliminary round and
will be hoping to avoid a shocker in Sunday’s match. Should Yanga
progress to the next round, they will face the aggregate winner of
another preliminary tie between Rwanda’s APR and Zanaco of Zambia in the
first round match in March, this year.
The overall winner of the twolegged match will proceed into the tournament’s group stage.
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