Zesco United’s past accomplishments won’t matter when they play each other in the second preliminary round of the Confederation Cup, according to head coach Sean Connor of Jwaneng Galaxy.
Zesco United will face Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana in the CAF Confederations Cup second preliminary round first and second leg.
Zega Mambo defeated FC 105 of Gabon 5-0 to progress to the pre-group stage of the CAF Confederations Cup with a 5-2 aggregate score.
Meanwhile, Jwaneng Galaxy progressed after they eliminated Malawian side Mighty Wanderers FC 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate score.
In an interview with ZNBC’s Radio 4 sports program, head coach Sean Connor acknowledged Zesco United’s past accomplishments.
“Look, since I joined African football way back in 2014, I was aware of Zesco, and I was aware of Zambia as a football country. I know that Zesco has been a very successful team. They have won the league nine times; they have obviously got a very successful name in CAF because I know they have been to the group stages quite a number of times, and they even reached the last 16,” he said.
“So I am aware of the history; what I am doing is making myself aware of this team because I know history is very important. But we don’t play history; we play the current team,” added the coach.
Connor’s anticipation
The Jwaneng Galaxy boss anticipates a tough match.
“It’s going to be a very tight game, like most of these games are. We will make sure we keep ourselves in the tie. I would say Zesco would be favorites to go through, but that’s something we have to deal with,” he added.
“I think we have got a very strong team; we have got a lot of internationals in the team, and we have got experience. This group of players was in the group stages of the CAF two seasons ago. It’s my job to make sure the players are prepared and make sure the players are ready, and it’s the players’ job to try and turn up to perform on both ties,” concluded the coach.
The first leg will be played between the 17th and 19th of October at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, with the reverse fixture set for a week later.
