. . . as Lioli aim to end Champions League hoodoo
Mikia Kalati
LIOLI coach, Halemakale Mahlaha remains optimistic that his side can brew an upset by beating Caps United in their own backyard to progress to the next round of the CAF Champions League.
The two sides meet in the second leg of the preliminary round at at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Sunday- week after Tse Nala failed to make home advantage count at Setsoto Stadium.
The teams settled for a goalless draw in a game which Mahlaha felt they should have won, had it not been for poor finishing.
He said they had been working hard to rectify that come Sunday.
“We know the task that awaits us in the second leg come Sunday and we have been working on improving,” Mahlaha said, adding, “The biggest problem was that we could not bury the chances we created”.
“On the other hand, the positive thing is that we did not concede and we were solid throughout the game.
“Now that we have a picture of what we will be coming up against after playing them, that makes it easier for me and the technical team to plan for the return match.”
Mahlaha, who is also the national under-17 coach, said they prepared to win every match they played, adding, “So I’m confident that if we can get our preparations right, then we stand a good chance of surprising them in front of their supporters”.
“Football is a game of surprises and anything can happen on Sunday.
“Not winning here at home in the first leg does not mean that we cannot do it away from home. All we have to do is to work on our finishing.
“We did not have the best first half last Saturday for a team that was playing at home as we did not dominate position, apart from missing chances.
“So these are a few things that we have been working on all week to ensure that we will be at our best away from home on Sunday.”
Mahlaha also said they had a clean bill of health and the only player who would not take part is winger Lekhanya Lekhanya who is suspensed after getting a straight red card against Vital’O of Burundi in the same competition last year.
“It is a big boost that we have no injury concerns as it will make life easier playing with our best starting eleven,” he said.
Lioli left the country on Wednesday night for a road trip to Zimbabwe.