By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
ZANACO this afternoon start the push to break down their continental barriers as they take on Tunisian novices Stade Gabèsien in the CAF Confederations Cup with a message of killing off the contest right from Zambia.
This second round first leg match kicks-off at 15:00 hours at Nkoloma stadium and will be broadcast live across Africa on Supersport Select channel.
Zanaco assistant coach Dabid Chilufya wants to kill off the game in the first leg and travel for a second leg with an assurance of a comfortable lead but that his charges will have to be wary of the North Africans trademark of quick and counter-attacking football.
Chilufya said Zanaco do not want the heartache of elimination just because they failed to take care of business at home and will pick a leaf from Zesco United’s first round match against Horoya where they won 4-1.
“We have to kill-off the contest here. We have to score goals to win even the away tie. We have looked at our opponents and we believe we have a chance to win the contest from this home match,” Chilufya said.
His stance must be driven by the fact that Stade Gabèsien is a middle-table team in the Tunisian league and playing on the continent for the first time.
They only won a ticket to the continental games after finishing runners up in a cup final with Tunisian guaranteed of four CAF slots in the interclub competitions.
However, Zanaco are seasoned continental campaigners who got a bye in the preliminary stage of the competition before they dispatched Harare City via a 5-2 aggregate score in the second round.
Stade Gabèsien needed penalties to dispatch Malian side AS Bakaridjan 4-3 after the two had a 2-2 tie on aggregate in the preliminary round and went on to see off AS Kaloum of Guinea in a first round tie.
They surely have not embarrassed themselves in their first continental outing and have a chance to get into the play-off against the drop out from the Champions League to get into the Group Stage.
Stade Gabèsien assistant coach Raouf Marzouqui said his side was eager to make the next stage of the competition and would exploit the weakness they have seen in the Zambian side.
“We have watched Zanaco a lot and we have noticed a number of weaknesses and those are the ones we shall be exploiting. Otherwise, Zambia is a good place, we have been received and treated well,” Marzouqui said.
While this could be mind games, Zanaco will definitely go into this game with optimism to navigate this same rough road successfully regardless of who the opponent is.
Captain Ziyo Tembo yesterday spoke strongly about the importance of the game and is set to lead the charge and described the North Africans as any other team.
Zanaco will look to impressive Aubrey Funga to lead their attack with assistance from Dave Daka and Charles Zulu while Isaac Chansa and Salulani Phiri should marshal the midfield with Tembo and Aaron Katebe commandeering the backline.