Malesela upbeat about Al Ahli Tripoli tie

by Staff Reporter

Monday Oct 31, 2022. 13:00

Marumo Gallants head coach Dan Malesela is feeling positive about his side’s chances against Al Ahli Tripoli in the CAF Confederation Cup playoffs.

Bahlabane Ba Ntwa face the Libyan giants in the first leg at the Benina Martyrs Stadium in Benghazi on Wednesday, with the second leg taking place seven days later at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

Gallants warmed up for the African tie with a 2-1 win over Cape Town City in the DStv Premiership on Saturday to hand Malesela his second victory since returning to the club last month.

The 57-year-old, who is affectionately known as ‘Dance’, concedes the quick turnaround in fixtures gives them very little time to prepare for the long trip to the north of the continent, but is confident of progressing to the group stages of the competition.

“I always say until you play a team don’t rule yourself out and don’t overrate a team until you play them. We will fight very hard and I am positive about our chances,” Malesela said.

“I feel for my boys because now we have to take a very long trip to Libya but we will manage the situation because this is our job and this is the nature of the game.”

The Tripoli outfit are not an unknown entity at least, having come up against Orlando Pirates in the semi-finals last season and beating them 1-0 in the second leg in Johannesburg, but losing 2-1 on aggregate.