CAFCC: Ibengé concerned with Azam FC’s striking force despite qualifying

Azam FC head coach Florent Ibengé has once again raised concerns with his striking department despite the Tanzanian Premier League side qualifying for the next round of the CAF Confederation Cup following their 4-0 aggregate first round win against South Sudanese Premier League champions Al Merreikh FC.

The Ice Cream Makers ensured they registered a double over the Sudanese outfit. Having won the first leg meeting 2-0 away, Azam secured their second round spot with another 2-0 win at Chamazi Complex in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.

“We trusted ourselves, and we did it, I think before the beginning of the competition, we said we want to go to the group stages, so it was difficult because you know it is like when you finish secondary school, you want to be an engineer but if you don’t have your diploma, you can’t go to university, so it was difficult,” Ibengé told Pan-Africa Football.

“I think it is the most difficult examination, I told them it was the most important game of the year, for us, so when you know that you have a big pressure, and you know today, we controlled the game, but we lost too much, but when you lose too much, you fear, but am happy we did it.

“The most difficult thing to do in football is to score goals, to defend is easier than to score goals, so what I can retain is that we created a lot of possibilities but scored only two goals, so we are going to work on that, to continue creating a lot of possibilities, and make sure that we turn them into goals.”

Azam will not underrate KMKM of Zanzibar

On Azam facing KMKM of Zanzibar in the next round, Ibengé said: “We respect them, there is no easy game, we respect everybody and we take every game seriously, it is the only key.

The Congolese tactician concluded: “We will prepare for this game with a lot of seriousness, and the best way to prepare for it is today we are happy but tomorrow we forget and we think about the next game.”

Before facing KMKM, Azam will return to league action with an away game against JKT Tanzania at Isamuhyo Stadium on Wednesday.

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