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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
A bruised Triangle FC will arrive in Bulawayo today ahead of their crunch Caf Confederation Cup second-leg play-off against Mauritanian champions FC Nouadhibou at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday.
The Lowveld side lost 2-0 in the first-leg played at the Stade Municipal de Nouadhibou in Mauritania last Sunday. Second half goals from Mahamane Cisse and skipper Abdulaye Gueye condemned the Zimbabwean representatives to defeat. They now face the momentous task of overturning that deficit on home soil.
Triangle communications officer Wendy Tinarwo said: “The team is travelling from Mauritania as we speak, they will arrive in Bulawayo tomorrow (today) if all our travelling arrangements go according to plan. We will set up base in the city as we prepare for Sunday’s defining tie.”
News of their first-leg defeat came as a shock to many, but FC Nouadhibou were never going to be easy opponents, as they have won the Mauritanian championship seven times. They even knocked out Ivory Coast representatives SO de l’Armée in the Caf Champions League preliminary round this season.
They are one of the 16 teams that crashed out of the Caf Champions League and dropped into the second-tier competition following a 1-6 aggregate defeat to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.
Triangle, on the other hand, have not won in their last three games in all competitions. Before the loss to FC Nouadhibou, they had lost 2-0 to Bulawayo Chiefs before a 3-1 loss to Mushowani Stars in the domestic league.
Coach Taurai Mangwiro told our sister paper the Sunday News that his side is capable of overturning the deficit.
“We live to fight another day; we will get a lot of encouragement from the number of good opportunities that we got and hope that we continue creating and perfect our conversion. At the moment it might appear an insurmountable task, but I have seen crazy results in football and we hope to come good in the return leg,” Mangwiro said.
Triangle are taking part in the Caf inter-club competitions for the first time in their history. Qualification to the group stage of the Caf Confederations Cup will play a big role in enhancing chances of Zimbabwe having two teams in each of the continental club competitions next year. – @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter