CAFCL: Mabedi frustrated with missed chance despite Young Africans win

Young Africans stand-coach Patrick Mabedi was still not a satisfied man despite guiding the Tanzanian Premier League champions to the group stages of the CAF Champions League on Saturday.

The Citizens went into the return leg of the second preliminary round seeking to overturn a 1-0 defeat suffered to Malawi side Silver Strikers in Blantyre a fortnight ago. However, Yanga secured a 2-0 in the return leg to punch their place in the next stage.

First half goals courtesy of Dickson Job with only six minutes played and Pacome Zouzoua did the trick for Mabedi and Yanga. However, speaking after the game, the Malawian coach admitted Yanga should have won by a big margin.

Yanga missed a lot of opportunities

“We were expecting to do well, we know we didn’t do well in the first match, and we had to go extra mile to qualify, and I need to give credit to the supporters for cheering up the team, because they were our number 12,” Mabedi told Pan-Africa Football.

“We missed a lot of opportunities, we created many scoring chances but we couldn’t make them count, it is something we really have to work on until we get it right.”

He added: “First half we had control of the game, second half we didn’t do well, we didn’t stick to the same tempo like the first, I could see that most of the players were dropping, and I think it was because of fatigue but we should do better.

“We also had a few chances in the second half, and I think it should be four or five goals, that is why I feel we need to take our chances sometimes.”

On how he managed tom qualify Yanga, Mabedi said: “Yeah, look, it was very easy, because I had to adapt the players to our philosophy that we wanted to play, and at the same time, I had to memorise every player, and to give them a fair chance, and we have a very good bunch of players, and they make my life easier.”

The Tanzanian went to the break leading 2-0 and the scoreline did not change in the second half as there were no further goals. The group stage draw will see the Tanzanian giants learn their group stage opponents on November 3.

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