Kenya champions Vihiga Queens have a mountain to climb when they face Moroccan side ASFAR this afternoon as they battle to avoid early exit from the CAF Women’s Champions League.
Queens will look to bounce from 1-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in their last game to realize their dreams of making it to the semifinals of the inaugural tournament.
ASFAR are no pushovers and they beat Rivers Angels of Nigeria 3-0 in their opening Group B match with their marksman Sanaa Mssoudy grabbing a hat-trick.
Going into the second game at El Salam Stadium in Cairo today, Queens will need to be on top of their game to defy odds against a confident and well-organized Moroccan side- ASFAR.
“After our first match, our loss against Mamelodi, we trained on the mistakes we’ve made and prepared very well so, my girls are ready for the match,” said Queens coach Charles Okere.
“We know they are a very good side, but we can match them with our experience. We want to take each.”
He further added that, “We watched them play, their forward Sanaa Massoudy is very good, and I congratulate her. However, we have quality players that can stop her”.
ASFAR has established players, many having played for the national team with their last outing being in October at Aisha Buhari Cup where Morocco fared well.
Coach Abdallah Haidou has emphasized the importance of the match as a win will see them book an early ticket to the semi-finals.
“We thank God, the first match went very well for us. We’d love to do the same for the next match to grant qualification,” the ASFAR coach said.
“We know they want to fight to stay in the tournament, so we’ve prepared to them playing very strongly.
“The team plays short passes and, on the ground. We know they play high balls, but we’ll try to keep the ball low because this is how the players are used to play, here in ASFAR and in the national team as well, this is how we do it”.
The best two clubs from each of the two four-team groups and the two best losers will qualify for the knock out stages, beginning with semi finals.
