Bring on Yanga SC, says Zanaco coach

Dar es Salaam. Zanaco FC coach, Mumamba Numba has urged his charges to up the ante when they confront Mainland champions Young Africans in the first round of the CAF Champions League next month.

The Zambian giants needed an improbable 1-0 away win over APR of Rwanda nine days ago to salvage a campaign, which had looked destined for a premature end, following a goalless draw in the first leg in Lusaka.

Yanga, meanwhile, proved their mettle with a thumping 6-2 aggregate win over Ngaya de Mde of the Comoros to progress, and it is a result which has sent a chilling message to Zanaco coach Numba.

“It will be a tough game (against Yanga). “We have to be focused so that we achieve our goals. We need to work harder to go far in the competition,” Numba said last week.

“But we are happy that we face a side coached by someone (George Lwandamina) whose tactics we know very well. We need to work hard and prepare for this game,” he added.

Yanga, reeling from a 2-1 defeat to their archrivals Simba in a tense league clash at the National Stadium on Saturday, will tackle Zanaco in the first leg on March 11 at the same venue, with a reverse fixture set for Lusaka a week later.

In the new-look CAF Champions League, first-round winners proceed directly to the group stage, which, this year, will involve 16 teams divided into four groups.

The changes have boosted hopes of more Champions League football for sides like Yanga and Zanaco, with the Zambians still searching for a maiden appearance in the group stage.

Yanga, for their part, have reached the round-robin phase once before, and that was nearly two decades ago (in 1998).

The Tanzanian giants have, however, invested heavily in efforts to mould a competitive side, and the Zanaco clash will provide a timely test of their character.

“We are meeting a very good side. We have played Young Africans several times in international friendly matches. We expect a very tough match,” the Zanaco coach said.

”We have five foreign players who were not registered for the preliminary round but they will now play,” he added.

Yanga roped in Lwandamina last year from Zambia’s Zesco United to spearhead the Jangwani Street team’s quest for success.