Prince Koffie, the manager of African Stars, is not sure Power Dynamos has what it takes to advance, despite the fact that they eliminated his team from the CAF Champions League on Saturday.
Aba Yellow overturned a 2-1 loss to the Namibians in the first leg to win 1-0 in Ndola, advancing them to the next round, where they will face Tanzanian superpower Simba Sports Club.
Andy Boyeli made his mark against the African Stars by calmly dispatching a penalty won by fullback John Soko. The Namibians were quite fortunate to end the first half only 1-0 down.
Despite an improved second-half performance for African Stars, the contest ended in favor of Power Dynamos, who kept the opposition strikers at bay.
However, African Stars gaffer Koffie believes his team was more deserving of progression to the next round.
Speaking in a post-match conference at the Levy Mwanawasa stadium, the Ghanaian manager admitted, “Our boys lost concentration, particularly in the first leg.
“Unfortunately, after conceding again, our boys went down psychologically, and I had to bring them up to fight and get a goal,” he stated.
Koffie went on to say, “The fans played a role in motivating their players, but they didn’t intimidate us. Despite the noise, we still controlled the second half and pushed for an equalizer.
“However, the Power Dynamos side we faced today was a bit different. They were able to defend well, specifically the set pieces. Dynamos piled up a lot of weight on the right side of the field, where we caused issues in the first match.”
Koffies says Power Dynamos cannot go far in the Champions League
“I think the better team lost today. In the second half, we controlled all the moments. We even scored an equalizer, which was unfortunately disallowed,” he said.
Regarding CAF still applying an away goals rule scrapped in other continents, the manager said, “If there is a need to change that rule, then it’s their decision to make. We didn’t deserve to be eliminated.”
He also believes that Power Dynamos will not go any further in this competition.
“Power Dynamos is a big club and has quality players. But I think they need to do a lot. They are a team with a lot of weaknesses, and going forward, I don’t think they can go far.”
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The Zambian Super League champions will host Simba FC at the Levy Mwanawasa stadium next month before paying a visit to Tanzania a fortnight later.
