Yanga coach Gamondi unhappy despite victory over CBE in CAF Champions League

Dar es Salaam. Young Africans (Yanga) head coach, Miguel Gamondi, has said he is not happy with the performance of his players despite their victory against Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) in the first leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round.

Gamondi expressed his concerns upon arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport (Terminal 3) on September 15, 2024.

Yanga won 1-0 at the Addis Ababa Stadium, Ethiopia, last Saturday, thanks to a goal by Prince Dube in the 45th minute, following a good pass from Stephane Aziz Ki.

He said that despite the poor pitch conditions, his players created no fewer than seven clear scoring chances in the encounter but failed to convert them into goals.

Despite scoring the only goal, Dube was criticized for missing three clear chances during the match. Along with Dube, Clement Mzize also missed two scoring chances.

Mzize's first miss came in the 70th minute when his header went wide after a good cross from Shadrack Boka. Two minutes later, he shot off-target following a pass from Pacome Zouzoua.

Other notable misses came from Maxi Nzengeli in the 58th minute and Mudathir Yahya in the 69th minute, whose shot was blocked by a CBE defender.

Pacome Zouzoua missed a clear chance in the 82nd minute after being set up by Yahya, and Clatous Chama also shot wide following a pass from Mzize.

"We should have finished the match differently if we had utilized even half of the chances we created.

But I anticipated this as the players were fatigued due to a tough fixture schedule. I had 14 players on duty with various national teams.

They traveled a lot and didn't get enough rest, which affected their performance. We also played at high altitude, which was another challenge," said Gamondi.

He added that the team is now back and will rest briefly before starting preparations for the return leg, scheduled to take place on Saturday at the New Amaan Sports Complex in Zanzibar at 8:30pm East Africa Time.

"Although I am not satisfied with the performance, I commend them. The important thing is the victory.

 We made it away, and now we focus on the second leg. We are confident of advancing to the group stage," he said.

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