CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has pledged an approach full of attacking flair when his charges take on continental football giants USM Alger of Algeria in a Caf Champions League Group B clash at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.
by KEVIN MAPASURE
Following their defeat in the opening Group B match against Zamalek of Egypt in Alexandria almost two weeks ago, Caps United need a win to restore good health to their campaign.
But in USM Alger they face experienced opponents high in confidence after they won their first match 3-1 against Al Ahli Tripoli.
While Chitembwe is demanding maximum concentration from start to finish particularly at the back, he wants to see his side play with a lot of ambition and determination.
“It’s certainly one of the most important matches, one of the biggest for this club, so we are looking forward to it. We know it will not be easy as we are playing one of the most difficult opponents. But we will try and play with a lot of confidence, a lot of determination. I can assure you a lot of flair and joy because this is how we want to play,” Chitembwe told the pre-match Press conference yesterday.
While he anticipates a tough match for his team, he still wants his players to enjoy themselves on the grand occasion.
“At this level of competition it’s never easy, but we are ready and excited to be in this kind of situation. What is important for us is to focus on what we can do rather than what the opponent is capable of. So from that perspective we will focus on our game which is what we have control over.”
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Attackers Tafadzwa Rusike and Leonard Tsipa both have a chance of featuring in the match even though they are not fully fit.
“Tafadzwa Rusike is about 80% fit, while Tsipa is about 60%, so we will see. We have a team that can got out there and represent us well.”
Abbas Amidu has proved to be a reliable source of goals for Caps United so far this season and he is expected to lead the line of attack this afternoon.
Captain Dennis Dauda said the players were confident of a win against USM Alger.
“It will be a tough match, but we are confident we will win.”
USM Alger coach Paul Put acknowledged that winning in any away match in Africa was a difficult thing to achieve.
He is particularly worried about the threat that Caps United pose with their speed in attack.
Like Chitembwe, Put has been preaching about concentration.
“It will be a tough game. In my experience I know that playing away is tough, we have to concentrate,” Put said.
“I appreciate Caps United are a tough team technically and tactically and they have a lot of speed, playing against that kind of speed is very difficult. We have to concentrate the whole game, we will try to do our level best. We would have wanted to be here earlier to recover, but it didn’t happen. But it’s not an excuse, we will try to do our best to win the game.”
The visitors are overwhelming favourites going into the match and a win for USM Alger was paying $0,95 while a Caps victory was at $3,55.
