CAFCL: Silver Strikers jet into Tanzania for near-impossible Yanga mission

Silver Strikers FC jetted in Tanzania on Thursday for their decisive match against Young Africans Sports Club (Yanga) in the CAF Champions League on Saturday.

The Malawians face a near-impossible task of preserving their lead from the first leg against the hosts who hardly lose at home.

The 23-member squad arrived at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam at 8:20pm ahead of the second preliminary round, second leg match at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

What Reserve Bank governor told Silver Strikers

Addressing the squad days before departure, the Reserve Bank of Malawi governor Dr MacDonald Mafuta Mwale challenged the Bankers to build on their first-leg performance. The central bank sponsors the Lilongwe-based team.

“When we gave them the greenlight to register for participation in the CAF Champions League, we made it clear that we do not want them to join for the sake of participating but they must go there and compete,” Mwale told the media for Strikers.

“This is exactly what they have done so far. I, therefore, urged them continue from where they left off in the first. It won’t be easy. They must go there without thinking too much about the first leg victory.”

The TNM Super League’s defending champions stunned the fancied Yanga, defeating them 1-0 at Bingu National Stadium last week. The Tanzanian Mainland Premier League champions did not take the loss lightly they swiftly axed then coach Romain Folz hours after the game.

Malawian assistant coach Patrick Mabedi is in charge of Yanga in an interim capacity. Strikers need any draw to book their place in the Champions’ League group stages while Yanga must win at all costs.

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