Mangwiro confident ahead of Caf tie

TRIANGLE coach Taurai Mangwiro is confident his side can overturn the two-goal deficit they suffered at the hands of Mauritanian champions FC Nouadhibou in a Caf Confederation Cup first-leg play-off a week ago.

The Lowveld side hosts FC Noudhibou at Barbourfields Stadium tomorrow hoping to upstage the visitors and progress to the next round of the competition.

Speaking ahead of the crucial tie, Mangwiro was optimistic his side would rise to the occasion.

“We are preparing well; come Sunday we should be ready for the task that is ahead of us. Obviously, we are still pained with last Sunday’s defeat. Prior to the defeat on Sunday we had been doing well in this competition so it was demoralising to lose in that way. It was the first time we leaked goals in the competition but we remain confident.

“From what we saw in the first leg, I can assure you that we still have a chance. We were the better side even though we lost. We managed to create numerous goal scoring opportunities. We will get a lot of encouragement from the number of good opportunities that we got and hope that we continue creating and perfecting our conversion,” said Mangwiro.

The Zimbabwean side has been impressive in their maiden African safari journey and victory over the visitors will see them make history by getting into the lucrative group stages. They will bank on the likes of Ralph Kawondera, Delic Murimba and Allan Tavarwisa as they look for a turn in fortunes.

Triangle are taking part in the Caf inter-club competitions for the first time in their history. Qualification to the group stage of the Caf Confederations Cup will play a big role in enhancing chances of Zimbabwe having two teams in each of the continental club competitions next year.

Tomorrow’s tie however, will be a tough one given the pedigree of their opponents.

FC Nouadhibou have won the Mauritanian championship seven times.

They even knocked out Ivory Coast representatives SO de l’Armée in the Caf Champions League preliminary round this season. They are one of the 16 teams that crashed out of the Caf Champions League and dropped into the second-tier competition following a 1-6 aggregate defeat to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco. — @ innocentskizoe