Pluijm hails players after tough game

11Apr 2016
Sport
The Guardian
Pluijm hails players after tough game

YANGA coach Hans van Pluijm, has praised his players’ performance despite having managed a 1-1 draw with Egypt’s Al Ahly in the last 16’s first leg game of the CAF Champions League played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.

Al Ahly vs yanga

He said his team came up against a much better side and the former gave their all throughout.
Pluijm said Ahly were good in possession and planned counter attacks well, adding that it was unfortunate his team conceded an early goal.

“I give compliments to my players…they played against very formidable opponents. Ahly know how to counter well,” he said.

Yanga defense failed to react quickly to a well taken free kick by Al Ahly few meters outside the former’s box and the latter’s striker, Amr Gamal, made no mistake with a header inside the penalty area to give his team a crucial away goal.

Yanga could have put themselves in a better position prior to the return leg, had the squad made the most of over three good chances after having registered the equaliser through an own goal by Ahly’s centre back, Ahmed Hegazy.

Ahly coach Martin Jol said his team would have come out with a victory had it fully exploited good scoring opportunity later in the second half.

Jol said his team had an upper hand in the latter stages of the game thanks to the side’s ability to take control of the midfield.

Ahly showed great composure, were happy to sit back for the better part of the game and made it difficult for Yanga to create scoring opportunities.

The draw has put Yanga in a difficult position as far as progression to the next stage of the premier continental club competition is concerned.

Yanga will need nothing short of a win to knock the Egyptian soccer giants out and qualify for the lucrative groups’ stage of the tournament.

It is the second time for the two teams to lock horns in the second round of the CAF Champions League in a space of three years.

They had earlier met in the second round of the 2014s tournament, in which Yanga won 1-0 in the first leg match and Ahly claimed a similar win in the second leg match to force the game into the dramatic shootout.Ahly eventually edged Yanga by penalties to qualify for the groups’ stage.

Tanzania’s envoys in the CAF Confederation Cup, Azam FC, were yesterday expected to host Tunisia’s Esperance in the second round’s first leg game at the Azam Complex in the city.

Azam needed a convincing win over Esperance to bolster their chances of qualifying for the next stage of the tournament.

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