Red Arrows football club technical director Oswald Mutapa is confident that the airmen have what it takes to overturn the 0-1 lose they suffered on Saturday to Angolan side Primero de Agosto in the CAF Champions League preliminary round first leg.
This is football and anything is possible in football, we have lost the first half [first leg] 1-0, we can equally go there and win 1-0 or maybe take it into penalties, we can even win 2-0 or 3-0,
Like I said, this is a team that is able to create chances but if we get more composed in front of goal, utilize the chances that we have, it’s very possible.
Mutapa confidently said during a post-match press conference at Heroes Stadium.
Arrows conceded 5 minutes into the match when Angolan striker Ambrosini Salvador shot from long range to slot in the winner for Angosto in the far right corner giving no chance for Charles Kalumba to even stretch his muscles and stop the ball.
However, Mutapa believes they lost the match because the early goal conceded unsettled them through out the match.
I think after the goal, players were unsettled, trying to rush to score, I think you saw in the first half, just after the halfway line someone is shooting,
I feel we could have done much better, especially in turnovers, where we needed to be composed, we gave the ball away, because of that goal, it unsettled us.
Bemoaned Mutapa.
Mutapa also believes Arrows has enough depth in their team to compete in the Champions League and has remained optimistic they will overturn the 1-0 deficit when they meet again in Angola for the second leg fixture on 18th September 2022.
I know you want me to say we don’t have [quality players], but I think we have the players that we have at the moment and those are the same players that we have to use.”
He concluded.
Red Arrows who are the reigning Zambian Champions will have to score two unanswered goals when they meet Agosto in the second leg fixture away in Angola to stand a chance of proceeding to the next round of the CAF Champions League.