Kaizer Chiefs travel to Morocco keen to become the first South African team to beat Raja Casablanca in their own backyard.
|||
Having had their impeccable Champions League home record destroyed in the first leg, Kaizer Chiefs travel to Morocco not only keen to exact revenge but eager to become the first South African team to beat Raja Casablanca in their own backyard.
Previously victorious in all their 10 home matches of the continent’s premier club knockout competition, Amakhosi came a cropper against the Green Devils at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium three weeks ago.
The manner of the 1-0 loss will still be rankling when Amakhosi take to the field for the second leg in Casablanca on Sunday.
They had no business losing that match did Stuart Baxter’s team, the South African Premiership pace-setters and champions elect having literally gifted Raja the goal via a soft free-kick that they poorly defended very early in the game.
That they went on to dominate the match but failed to convert their chances has had Chiefs kicking themselves ever since, and that pent-up anger will be best used taken out on their adversaries on Sunday.
But history is not on their side, with South African sides having returned from Morocco without victory on three previous occasions in this competition.
Orlando Pirates, Manning Rangers and Ajax Cape Town have played the three-time African champions in this competition before and none of them returned from the tip of the continent victorious.
The Buccaneers and the Mighty Maulers were beaten 1-0 and 2-1 respectively while the Urban Warriors at least got a 1-1 draw.
Of course, Chiefs will no doubt convince themselves that statistics and records are nothing more than just numbers on a piece of paper with very little impact on the outcome of matches.
That 1-0 first leg defeat Amakhosi suffered is testimony to that.
Yet for them to turn the tables on the Moroccan side, Chiefs will not only need to be lethal in their finishing but to also overcome what is sure to be a hostile environment.
Trips to north Africa are never easy, with stadiums generally filled to capacity by a crowd not renowned for their kindness to the opposition.
And the Phefeni Glamour Boys players are not among the toughest of customers mentally.
Though they have scored the most goals in the league, the log leading Chiefs have recently been pretty blunt up front.
And without Kingston Nkhatha, who has joined SuperSport United, they do not have that nuisance of a striker to harass the opposition defence.
While the build-up talk this week has focused on the poor form of the 11-time Moroccan league winners, who have suffered two successive defeats, and the fact their coach might be on his way out, Chiefs would do well to not read too much into all that.
After all, when the whistle for kick-off is blown all the Green Devils will be thinking of is protecting their lead while hoping to catch Chiefs on the break and add to it.
Meanwhile Orlando Pirates will be out in Kampala on Saturday to take on a Uganda Revenue Authority side that they lead 2-1 from the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup tie. - The Star
from Soccer Soccer Extended RSS http://ift.tt/1y2k5KD
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire