Marumo Gallants’ coach Raymond Mdaka has reacted to the club’s first defeat in the CAF Confederations Cup group stages.
Algeria’s USM Alger moved to seven points on top of the CAF Confederations Cup Group A following a 2-0 win against Marumo Gallants on Sunday evening.
It was the first defeat of the group stage for Marumo Gallants, who qualified for the competition by virtue of finishing as Nedbank Cup runners-up.
Abderrahmane Meziane and Zinnedine Bellaid scored in either half for Alger at Nelson Mandela Stadium. Mdaka has remained in charge of the club as ‘new consultant’ Dylan Kerr is yet to secure his papers to sit on the bench.
“It was a very good game. We have experienced a number of things, especially because it’s the first leg, we still gonna play the second leg.
“We’ll not undermine anything because they’re a good team, but from what we have seen, we’ll be able to put it up when we play the second round,” Mdaka said.
MARUMO GALLANTS RETAIN SECOND SPOT DESPITE DEFEAT
Marumo Gallants remain in second position in the group with six points from their first two wins in a row. In the same group, St Elloi Lupopo picked their first win after edging out Libya’s AL Akhdar 1-0. The Libyans remain bottom of the group after two defeats and a draw, while the DRC side are third.
They will now shift their focus to the Nedbank Cup with a fixture against defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Thursday. They will take on TS Galaxy on 5 March before they return to continental football against USM Alger on Wednesday, 8 March.
Ahead of the return leg, Mdaka said they would change the approach after certain observations in Sunday’s tie.
“In terms of personnel, we can’t confirm for now because we still have some two or three days because you can never confirm what will happen. The approach might be a bit different from the experience of what we have seen,” said Mdaka.
He believes the weather conditions in South Africa may affect the Algerians when they visit for the return leg on Wednesday.
“This place is cold, it’s not as hot as our place, but we don’t want to put it as the reason for our loss. Obviously, when they come to the other side, it’ll be a different temperature, and different weather, which might be an advantage to us like it happened to them,” he added.
OTHER CAF CONFEDERATIONS CUP WEEKEND RESULTS
FAR Rabat beat 2-0 Egyptian debutants Future FC to move to seven points on top of Group C.
Asec Mimosas won 2-0 against Diables Noirs of Congo to go top of Group B. Pyramids won 1-0 against AS Kara of Togo in Cairo to move to second of Group C.
Real de Bamako played to a 1-1 draw with Tanzania’s Yanga. The result sees Yanga remain second in Group D with four points, Bamako are bottom with two points after back-to-back draws.
Tunisian side US Monastir stunned Congolese giants TP Mazembe 2-0 at home. It was Mazembe’s second successive defeat after losing to Yanga last weekend. The result leaves them third in Group D with three points.
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