By ERNEST NDUNDA in Dar-es-Salaam
Kenyan Premier League Champions Tusker must weather the storm if their campaign in the Cecafa Kagame Club Championships is to go beyond the preliminary stage.
Tusker are in a precarious situation as they take on Azam of Tanzania in one of the encounters today at the National Stadium in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.
Tusker put their qualification to the quarterfinals in an awkward position after they failed to go past Mafunzo of Zanzibar on Thursday settling for a barren draw.
The brewers must either beat Azam or grind out a draw of more than one goal. Another barren draw will see Tusker take the next flight back home.
Mafunzo settled for a 1-1 draw with Azam last Sunday and held Tusker to a barren draw on Thursday, which means Mafunzo lead group “B” with two points and one goal while Tusker and Azam tie on one point each but the latter has one goal advantage.
Coach Sammy Omollo conceded of his side wasting its chances in the match against Mafunzo but remained optimistic Tusker will go past Azam this afternoon. Omollo said Mafunzo dominated the midfield thus making it hard for his boys to penetrate.
“We played well but our opponents (Mafunzo) remained tight throughout the match,” said Omollo.
According to Omollo, Tusker were overconfident when they took on Mafunzo but found the going tough after failing to open them up in the first encounters.
This on the other hand gave Mafunzo confidence as they cut out their moves realising that they too could strongly challenge in the short passes format of football. At the end it worked for Mafunzo.
“We dominated proceedings in the entire 90 minutes but luck was not on our side. We missed several open opportunities, which could have translated into goals,” added Omollo.
