Petro de Luanda coach Alexandre Santos warned his Angolan charges to brace for fast and offensive Cape Town City challenge on Saturday.
He said this before departure for Cape Town for the CAF Champions League first-round dance with the Citizens on Thursday.
The first-leg game will kick off at 6pm CAT.
Addressing the press in Luanda on Wednesday, Santos described Cape Town City as “a difficult team, has very good players, plays very offensive football and very fast.”
ON THEIR TOES
The coach told his players to be on their toes throughout the 90 minutes of the away game to get a good result.
Santos said Petro de Luanda must avoid being overrun by the hosts at all costs on Saturday.
“…the team cannot be unbalanced, and that is fundamental…the team has to be able to play an intelligent game, a game that does not enhance the greatest qualities of the opponent,” Santos added.
The Brazilian said his players are united in their quest to secure group stage qualification, but they must clear the Cape Town City hurdle first.
“We have a big objective, and this objective is to reach the group stage, but we still have this last round,” he said.
“Cape Town is a team that last year was the runner-up in the championship, and they also want to reach the group stage. We are motivated, we got two wins in Girabola, and we leave here motivated.”
ANGOLANS OUSTED SUNDOWNS
The Angolans reached the semifinal of the last edition of the continental competition after booting out DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
Now, the Girabola champions have strengthened their squad with experienced players, including former Cape Town City goalkeeper Hugo Marques.
The award-winning goalkeeper looks set to come face-to-face with his former teammates from the Cape side.
The first leg match will take place at Cape Town Stadium, with the Girabola League champions hosting the reverse fixture on October 15 2022.
Petro de Lunda reached the first round after dispatching Black Bulls FC from Mozambique in the preliminary round. In contrast, Cape Town City dismissed AS Otoho from Congo at a similar stage.
