FC MUZA will be looking to progress to the next round when they welcome Cano Sport of Equatorial Guinea this afternoon in the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup first preliminary round.
Head Coach Mathews Ndhlovu is confident his boys will deliver when they go head to head with Cano Sport because of how well they have prepared.
Ndhlovu was quick to admit that this is an important game for both FC MUZA and the country.
“After the draw in Equatorial Guinea, it was a tough game, we saw where we could work on and we have done the preparations very well and we expect that the Boys will deliver very well,” Ndhlovu told the ZamFoot Crew.
“The squad has remained intact, one of our players by the name of Chipo Sondashi has not healed since getting a knock in Namibia but the rest remain injury free.”
“This game is very important to us. We are now ambassadors to mother Zambia.We need to raise the flag and approach this game with the seriousness it deserves. Despite the draw away in Equatorial Guinea, we take it that there is no advantage, we want to get a win and lessen the pressure as we prepare for the second round if we qualify,” he added.
Ndhlovu believes he has enough depth to compete both in the CAF Confederation Cup and the MTN Super League.
MUZA recorded an impressive 1-1 draw away at the Estadio de Malabo but Ndhlovu says that’s the result they deserved whilst in Equatorial Guinea and need to work hard for a good result at home.
“As MUZA FC we are encouraging each other to do it so that we can reach where we deserve to be.
“Before we even qualified we knew that the reward for finishing second in the League is playing CAF so we had it in mind that as we recruit, we have a depth of the team that can sustain playing the Confederation Cup and the league,” he said.
“The language which has been in camp is that the 1-1 draw was the result we deserved there but we now have to focus on the actual game here. The result could have been a bonus but it does not give us enough of an advantage until we win the game at home.”
“So we have been psyching ourselves out to work for mother Zambia and our team MUZA, so that we may make the difference within ourselves and the football fraternity in Zambia,” he added.
Skipper of the side Kelvin Mwanza is confident the Elegant Dynamites will deliver despite Cano Sport being a good side.
Mwanza says the player have being having very positive conversations amongst themselves targeting a win as they hope to do it for the nation.
“Yes , they are a good side, but yeah we can beat them, according to how we have prepared we are good to go, We will deliver,” he said.
“The team is ready, We saw how they are playing and we have worked on our mistakes. The morale in camp is high because the Boys know what is at stake we will just have to do our level best.”
“The conversation we are having is a positive one. We played the first and obviously we know how these guys are doing. We speak the same language we all want to win.
“This game is important for mother Zambia. We are doing it for the nation so it’s very important,” he added.
Solomon Mpasela came off the bench to score FC MUZA’s first goal in CAF interclubs Competition to force a draw.
The two sides will clash again this afternoon at the National Heroes Stadium at 15h00 with qualification to the second round at stake.
Winner over both legs will face off against Diables Noirs from the Congo Republic in the next round.
