If we win we have a strong chance to go through – Mogorosi
BONGANI MALUNGA
Township Rollers have their fate in their own hands as they will host two of their three remaining Group A CAF Champions League games. Home advantage could be crucial for the defending BTC Premiership champions if they have any hopes of advancing as the second placed team in the group.
With Esperance being the outright group leaders with a three point cushion ahead of their nearest rival, it looks like a three way battle between Al Ahly, Rollers and KCCA for the coveted second spot which would see one of them qualify for the last eight (quarter finals).
Rollers will tackle Al Ahly at the National Stadium on Saturday, a win would see Popa overtake Al Ahly as the second placed team in Group A. The Egyptians won the previous encounter 3-0 recently and they will be favourites to pull off another victory given the ease in which they beat Rollers in the previous game. Rollers are also on a bit of a rough patch having lost two successive CAF Champions League games, conceding seven goals.
However, the onus is on Popa to assert themselves as the home team to earn maximum points and stand a chance to have control of their destiny in the group, Nikola Kavazovic’s charges will travel to Uganda to face KCCA (18 August) before finishing the group games against Esperance at home (28 August).
If Popa avoid defeat in the next two games they will have a chance to face Esperance with a real shot of finishing second in the group. Al Ahly have been somewhat inconsistent on the road, they defeated CF Mounana 3-1 away from home in the First Round but they lost 2-0 against KCCA in Uganda on matchday 2 of the group stages.
Rollers forward Joel Mogorosi told Gazette Sport that they are ready for the Al Ahly game. “The team has been preparing well, the boys are raring to go. We have to cut out some of the mistakes we made in the first game, Al Ahly punished us for costly mistakes we made but we have worked hard on correcting that for the next game. I want to urge all supporters to come support us and rally behind the team as they always do. If we win, we will have a strong chance of going through to the next round,” stated Mogorosi.