Alexandria — FKF Premier League champions Tusker FC landed in the Egyptian ancient city of Alexandria on Tuesday afternoon as they look to overturn a 1-0 deficit at the hands of giants Zamalek when the two sides clash in the return leg of their CAF Champions League second preliminary round on Friday.
The brewers had their first training session at the Warm Up field of the Borg El Arab Stadium on Tuesday evening to shake off the jet lag and activate their muscles after a three-hour bus ride from the capital Cairo.
The team is in high spirits and have vowed to do all they can to turn the tide against their hosts and fight for a first ever place in the group stages of the CAF Champions League.
“I know it is possible. The game is not yet over and we will give our all in the return tie. We have seen them and we have now known what to do to contain them. We will work on a good game plan and I believe we will get a result,” head coach Robert Matano said after the team’s first leg match in Nairobi.
Tusker are in for a tough task as they need a win away from home against the White Knights to see themselves into the group phase.
Midfielder SHami Kibwana, a new signing from Homeboyz FC is confident they can put in a fight and turn the results in their favour.
“I believe we can turn the tables. We saw our mistakes from the first game and we have learnt from them. In training we have been trying to correct them and I am hopeful that we can be able to get a good result away from home,” Kibwana added.
A consolation for Tusker however, is that if they fail to beat Zamalek, then they will drop to the CAF Confederations Cup where they will take on one of the 16 teams which would have qualified into the play-off round.
But this is something the brewers are not looking at and instead putting all their focus on trying to hunt down Zamalek in their own home turf.
Skipper Eugene Asike is confident as much.
“I believe we have what it takes because we are a good side. We only had some mistakes in the first leg which we have worked to correct and I believe if we pull ourselves together, we can be able to turn this round,” Asike says.
The last time a Kenyan team played at the Borg El Arab Stadium was when Harambee Stars played Egypt in an African Cup of Nations qualifier, a game that ended 1-1.
Previously, Gor Mahia visited the Stadium in 2019 in the return leg of their CAF Confederations Cup group stage, losing 4-0 having won the first leg 4-2 in Nairobi.