Napsa Stars ready for Gor Mahia test
Zambia’s envoys in the CAF Confederation Cup, Napsa Stars will tomorrow be in action against Gor Mahia FC of Kenya. This will be the First Leg Match of the Pre-Group Stage.
Speaking ahead of the away game in Nairobi, Coach Mohamed Fathi and Team Captain, Dickson Chapa, emphasized the importance of obtaining a positive result.
On the expectations from the game, Coach Fathi stated that he expects to have a good game and positive result in Nairobi.
Chapa added, “tomorrow’s game is very important for us as a team. We are expecting to fight from the start-up to the end of the 90minutes. We are expecting a positive result.”
Coach Fathi acknowledged the threat posed by Gor Mahia.
“Gor magia is a big and experienced team. They are a regular team in CAF Continental (Competitions)”, he said.
“But every game is different. We are also a club that can make a difference in this competition. We are not looking at how much they are strong. We don’t want to give them too much respect. We will enforce our plan throughout the game.”
Captain Chapa also paid respect to Gor Mahia’s history.
“Gor Mahia is a well-organized club with a good history. We are not going to take anything from them”, said Chapa.
Chapa further assured the fans that the Pensioners are well motivated ahead of the match in Kenya.
“Even us as Napsa Stars we want to write history. We are here to make history. We are going to do the job on the ground. We are going to fight. We have to achieve our target in this competition”, he said.
Coach Fathi used the occasion to declare all his ‘troops’ ready for the match. He stated that all players in the squad are fit, ready, and focused for the match subject to negative COVID test results.
He further disclosed that his technical team is well prepared in case of any unforeseen circumstances arising from COVID test results. Coach Fathi referred to Napsa’s previous match in Mozambique were Napsa was able to make 2 drastic changes right before kickoff owing to COVID results.
“In the end, the game was well managed”, Coach Fathi alluded.
On the mood in the camp, the confident Captain Chapa stated that morale in camp is high.
“Everyone is looking forward to the game tomorrow and collecting maximum points. We have been encouraging ourselves to make our job easier by starting here in Kenya.”
“If we are to qualify to the next round, we need to start with a positive result in the first game. We need to make our qualification easy by recording a positive result in tomorrow’s away game”, concluded Chapa.
Coach Fathi was pleased to learn that a limited number of fans will be allowed in the stadium for the Return-Leg in Lusaka.
“It will help us a lot to have our supports at Heroes Stadium”, said the elated Coach Fathi.
Coach Fathi closed by thanking the Zambian High Commission in Kenya for the warm reception and hospitality.