Express FC coach Wasswa Bossa is cautiously optimistic about his side’s chances in today’s Cosafa Kagame Cup final against Nyasa Big Bullets.
The Red Eagles will take on the Peoples Team in Dar es Salaam hoping to break the jinx and win their maiden regional club title having previously made two finals.
Express are unbeaten in the tournament and their polished display in the group matches has built a huge sense of belief among local fans that their team can lift the title.
But Bbosa is refusing to be caught in the web of complacency but remains confident his team can scale the hurdle and write history.
“This is what we have been panning for; a final is a major highlight especially at this stage. We’ve prepared well for the game,” the gaffer said.
“We played Big Bullets in the group stage, so we have an idea about their style of play and like I’ve been saying, we want to win Kagame Cup and we shall do everything possible on Saturday to win.
“As a team we know this is it, everything we have been working for comes to plan Saturday. We respect Bullets because they too like us deserve to be in the final but we shall surely give it our all to win Kagame Cup.”
However, Big Bullets coach Peter Mponda has predicted a tough game and has emphasized the fact that the Peoples team need to take their chances if they are to lift their first regional title.
“I said last time when we played them that they’re a very good team, very organized, very physical; we played a 1-1 draw with them in the group stages. It was a very difficult match for us, trailing in the early minutes 1-0 and the response from the boys was very good, we came back stronger into the game,” Mponda noted.
“I don’t think we will repeat the same mistakes of conceding early and starting fighting for an equalizer and win; we will try to go them, get an early goal to unsettle them and start playing our normal game.
“Apart from that the lads are raring to go, they are feeling it, and as technical we’re also feeling it, we know that it’s a very important game for us not only as Nyasa Big Bullets but for us as a country.”
Express played to a 1-1 draw with Nyasa Big Bullets in the Group A of the competition with Muzamiru Mutyaba scoring for the Red Eagles before Chiukepo Msowoya’s equalizer in the second stanza.
To reach the final, Express defeated KMKM of Zanzibar in the semis after finishing first in Group A, where they beat Atlabara 1-0, drew 1-1 against Bullets, before registering a 1-3 victory against Yanga in the group stages.
For Bullets, they egistered a 1-1 draw against Young Africans of Tanzania in the opening match, before sharing the points against Express and then went on to beat South Sudanese side Atlabara FC to finish second of Group A before booking a semi-final spot against Azam who finished first in Group B.
