CAFCC: Florent Ibengé calls on Azam FC to work on scoring opportunities

Despite pulling a comfortable 2-0 away win against South Sudanese Premier League champions Al Merreikh FC, Azam FC head coach Florent Ibengé was not a happy man insisting they should have scored more than two goals in the fixture.

Playing at Juba International Stadium, the Tanzanian Premier League outfit took a deserved lead in the 45th minute when Fei Toto reacted to a spilled ball inside the area to smash it into the roof of the net for a 1-0 lead at the half-time break.

The Ice Cream Makers then made it 2-0 in the 66th minute when Jephte Kitambala found the back of the net. However, despite what looks like a good advantage heading into the return, Ibengé believes they must learn to kill off games when opportunities arise.

“It was very good for us from the beginning of the game, during the first 30 minutes I think we played a very good game, and after that we let Al Merreikh come into the game, they also had their moments to play for the last 15 minutes of the first half,” Ibengé told Pan-Africa Football.

Scoring worries Ibengé  despite taking advantage

“We were leading 1-0 and during the half-time we had to change something. We changed a lot of things which were not going well, and after that we came back for the second half, and we scored again, but I think for today out winning is normal because we created more possibilities to score than Merreikh.

“Our opponents didn’t have the opportunity to score, so I think it was normal that we won today. The most difficult thing in football is to score, defending is very easy, it is quite easy, but scoring, it’s very difficult.

“We honestly have to improve, it was our first official game, and you see we had a lot of possibilities to score, but we didn’t score more than two. So we have to work on it in Chamazi.”

The return leg will be played on Sunday, September 28 at Azam Complex Stadium in Tanzania.