Maurice Kambukwe
WINDHOEK- Katutura giants African Stars FC newly-appointed head coach Mohammed Gargo is confident his brigades are in the right physical and mental frame to swat past Ugandan opponents Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) FC when they meet this weekend.
Stars will this Saturday host visiting Ugandan club KCCA in the 1st leg of their Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions League preliminary round clash at the Sam Nujoma Stadium, before heading to Uganda for the reserve leg slated for the 23rd of this month.
As part of preparations for this weekend’s match, Stars last weekend tested themselves against Botswana’s top club and frequent Champions League campaigners Township Rollers FC and played to a 1-all draw in Tlokweng last Saturday.
Reading into last weekend’s friendly against Rollers, Gargo – a Ghanaian national - yesterday told New Era Sport that the Rollers match was to gauge the team’s readiness for this weekend’s match against KCCA and he was impressed by Stars general performance in Botswana.
“I would say the team’s performance was okay, we traveled late and that somehow also made the players a bit exhausted. We had to wake up after four hours of our arrival and immediately get to the stadium. The boys did well, we could have had two more extra goals in that match but unfortunately we couldn’t convert,” said Gargo.
Saturday’s match will be another tough assignment for the newly installed Ghanaian native, who will be out to make a perfect start in his first stint as head coach of the Katutura giants and the KCCA match will be the perfect dais to do just that.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a tough match, I know we can’t predict much in sport but all I know is that my boys will do well on Saturday. Individually, they [players] have been doing well and I now await for positive results on the weekend.”
On the club’s new signees Rakotonanahary Soloniana of Madagascar and Ibounayimine Soulimana from Comoros, Gargo said: “I think they are all good players and will definitely add much needed value to the team starting with Saturday’s encounter and also in the long term,” added Gargo, who revealed that midfielder Edmund Kambanda returned to training this week after suffering a muscle injury.