* Mighty Wanderers is a good team and deserve to be there. They have shown consistency and it is a big team here in Malawi
* As we are going to Tanzania for the return leg, we should do well. It is possible we can win—Wanderers interim coach McDonald Mtetemera
* We know what we can do. It’s not yet over until we go there and play again
By Duncan Mlanjira
Simba Sports Club coach Steve Barker contends that Mighty Wanderers are a good team and is not sitting on the laurels of the 1-0 away win in the second leg of the CAF Champions League preliminary round.
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After a goalless first half at Bingu National Stadium, Simba scored in the 65th minute through Ivorian forward, Anicet Oura, who capitalised on an error at the back after a Wanderers defender failed to clear the ball.
Simba go back home with an away goal advantage ahead of the two sides’s second leg to be played at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, September 13.
Simba coach Barker told Africa Brief that while he was pleased with the away victory, they would not underestimate Wanderers in the return leg.
“I’m grateful that we are able to come out with a 1-0 win with a clean sheet,” Barker is quoted as saying. “The opponent was strong and caused us a lot of problems.
“It is expected in the Champions League — the Champions League has never been easy,” said the coach, who further to Africa Brief that Wanderers are a strong and consistent team.
“Mighty Wanderers is a good team and deserve to be there. They have shown consistency and it is a big team here in Malawi,” he said.
“We will work on the problems that we have seen today before the return leg. We will not be complacent when playing the return leg.
“We will have to play well if we want to advance to the next stage,” Barker said, who also bemoaned Bingu Stadium’s “bumpy pitch that affected Simba’s style of play”.
A Pan Africa Football match report described the match as a closely contested encounter, indicating that “the opening 45 minutes produced a tactical battle, with both teams showing caution as they looked for ways to gain control of the contest”.
“Simba enjoyed significant spells of possession and attempted to dictate the tempo, but Mighty Wanderers defended resolutely and limited the visitors’ opportunities in the final third.
“Despite their efforts, Simba were unable to break through the hosts’ defensive structure before the interval, with the two sides going into halftime level at 0-0.
“The result meant Simba needed to find a different approach after the restart if they were to return home with an advantage.
“The game became more open in the second half as both sides increased their attacking efforts.
“Simba eventually found the breakthrough in the 65th minute when Oura finished a well executed move to put the visitors ahead.
“The Ivorian forward capitalised on an opening created by a long pass from Simba goalkeeper Djibrilla Kassali, controlling the situation before finding the back of the net and silencing the home crowd.
“The goal proved to be the difference between the two sides as Simba immediately shifted their focus towards protecting their advantage,” says the report by Pan Africa Football.
Meanwhile, Africa Brief also talked to Wanderers interim coach, McDonald Nginde Mtetemera, who said his team can still overturn the deficit in Tanzania.
“We have accepted the defeat,” he is quoted as saying. “It’s a bad result for us since we were playing at home, but we just need to correct the mistakes we have seen.
“As we are going to Tanzania for the return leg, we should do well. It is possible we can win. We know what we can do — it’s not yet over until we go there and play again,” he said.
Mtetemera told Africa Brief that the Nomads struggled to start the match with the intensity they had planned, but improved after halftime: “We told the boys to start the game very aggressively but that did not happen in the first half.
“In the second half we picked up our form, only that we conceded a silly goal,” he said, adding that Wanderers created some opportunities but failed to convert them.
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