Nabi: Yanga will start afresh against Gallants

by Staff Reporter

Wednesday May 17, 2023. 13:28

Young Africans head coach Nasreddine Nabi insists their 2-0 advantage means nothing as they prepare to face Marumo Gallants in the second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals on Wednesday evening.

Second-half goals from Stephane Aziz Ki (64′) and Bernard Morrison (90+2′) in the first leg at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium a week ago put Yanga in the driver’s seat ahead of the trip to South Africa.

However, Nabi is wary of the threat posed by Bahlabane Ba Ntwa, who have won all six of their home games in the competition this season, scoring 14 goals in the process.

As such, the Tunisian tactician claims that the result in Dar es Salaam has no bearing on the clash in Rustenburg as he looks to make history with the Tanzanian giants.

“We are very much aware of the advantage that we have but right now, our focus is on the game that we are yet to play because in football, anything can change and certainly, we are putting the advantage behind us,” he said.

“We know the quality of the opponents and we respect them, and we will make sure that we start afresh and put last week’s game behind us.”

Gallants hope to draw a large crowd for the second leg after granting free entry to any supporters wishing to attend in midweek but Nabi is unfazed by the prospect of playing in front of a packed stadium.

“It is their choice to open the stadium. We have played in front of big crowds of the opponents in this tournament, so it won’t be anything new,” he added.

“We have played with all the background noise and won those games. For us, we prefer playing in front of a big crowd than an empty stadium.”