‘Yanga are lucky to progress’
Yanga have qualified for the group stage despite suffering a 1-0 loss to Ethiopian side Wolaitta Dicha in the return leg on Wednesday in Hawassa.
The Jangwani Street lads won the two legged tie 2-1 on aggregate to secure a spot at the last 16. Yanga placed one leg into the group stage of continental second tier club championship, after earning a 2-0 victory over the Ethiopians at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam a fortnight ago.
Nonetheless, the Bees of Tona made a good start as they struck a goal two minutes into the game. Yared Dawit’s low corner kick coupled with a concentration lapse on the part of the Yanga defence gifted Togolese forward Arafat Djako time and space to fire home from close range.
After conceding an early goal, they kept their nerves to survive against Dicha, famous for knocking out five-time African champions, Zamalek of Egypt. Yanga defended bravely to ensure they do not concede the second goal that would pull the game on level terms and force it into extra time and possibly be decided on penalties.
After the game, Nsajigwa said; “The game was tight and tough for us. Wolaitta Dicha came with a high tempo in the opening minutes and it was tough for us after the early goal.
“It was a very good game. We are lucky and we qualify in the end. If we compare the chances we created and Dicha’s, we had the better chances. It is a matter of mentality.
The result will serve as a morale booster for our next games in all competitions,” he said. Yanga booked a place in the group stage of the tournament for the third time as they did in 1998 and 2016 respectively.
The last time they qualified for the stage was in 2016, after eliminating Angolans side Sagrada Esperanca on 2-1 goals on aggregate following a 2-0 win in Dar es Salaam. Goals were netted by Simon Msuva and Anthony Matheo. Yanga lost 1-0 in the return leg in Angola.
The Jangwani Street lads were relegated to continental second tier club championship after crashing out of the Champions League on 2-1 aggregate loss to impressive Botswana side Township Rollers. They were due to jet back in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
On his side, Wolaitta Dicha Head Coach, Zenebe Fisseha said the two goals his charges conceded in the first leg made the difference on Wednesday. “We did not possess the ball as we wanted.
I am content with reaching this far but I think we could have gone further. We have bowed out from the competition due to the fact that we lacked experience and made some unnecessary mistakes. “They (Young Africans) were stronger at the back and we tried to break that.
We took an early lead and also made many attempts that we squandered. Since it is our debut season, we have come a long way,” Fisseha said.
To reach the playoff stage, the Ethiopians had made a biggest upset of the 2018 CAF Confederations Cup after emerging the shock winners of their two legged first round tie, overcoming Egyptians giants Zamalek on penalty shootout in Cairo.
The group stage phase draw will be held tomorrow at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt whereby the teams which have qualified into the group stage will be pooled in four groups. The group stage of the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup two competitions will kick-off on the weekend of May 4 to 6th this year.
Meanwhile, as many as four clubs from CECAFA region are in the group stage of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup. Kenya’s Gor Mahia, Tanzania’s Young Africans, Sudan’s Al Hilal and Rwanda’s Rayon Sport were the teams from the region as the line-up for the group stage was completed. K’Ogalo and Rayon Sport are also part of the eight teams that make the group stages of the competition for the first time.
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