The CAF Confederation Cup final second leg between USM Alger and Young Africans takes centre stage at Stade du 5 Juillet in the Algerian capital of Algiers on Saturday.
It is the first final appearance for either team in the African second-tier club competition and the Union have a big advantage going into the game after winning the first leg in Daar es Salaam 2-1 courtesy of goals from Aymen Mahious and Islam Merili.
The result puts a big dent in Young Africans’ hopes of winning a first continental title because getting a result in Algiers will not come easy.
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— TotalEnergies CAFCL – TotalEnergies CAFCC ???? (@CAFCLCC) June 3, 2023
Home advantage matters a lot in African football and teams make the best use of it. In this case, Young Africans have missed a golden opportunity while USM Alger will be happier.
Regardless of the setback, Young Africans coach Nasreddine Nabi believes the Tanzanian giants still have a chance to reverse the result in their favour.
“I believe we still have a chance to turn the tables. We are a big team in Tanzania and representing our country, we have to do our best in the final,” Nabi said ahead of the game.
“We came here to fight with our spirits and blood. We will give our best and if Alger win, we will congratulate them. But we will give a fight,” added the tactician.
“The mental aspect of the players will make a difference in this match. We have to go in with a strong mentality to fight in a difficult game.”
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— TotalEnergies CAFCL – TotalEnergies CAFCC ???? (@CAFCLCC) May 28, 2023
Anything can happen in Stade du 5 Juillet. After all, the popular saying goes, “It is not over until it is over”. This gives Young Africans a window of opportunity to turn the tide around but it is going to be an extremely tall order.
USM coach Abdelhak Benchikha stated ahead of the match that the tie is even despite their first-leg result and will be cautious of Young Africans.
“Nothing is done yet,” he said. “The game still remains 50-50. I have experience with these kind of matches as a coach. Yanga will come to Algeria with nothing to lose and we have to remain focused.
“Yes, we have a small step from the first leg but I know how things can change and we should not lose focus. We will keep working.”
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— Young Africans SC (@YangaSCEnglish) June 2, 2023
Benchikha’s response above clearly shows respect for his opponents and indicates he is not taking anything to chance. That is the appropriate response, but deep within is the confidence that his side will not mess things up in Algiers.
Since the Confederation Cup began under that name in 2004, no team has ever lost a first-leg final at home and reversed it in the second leg. Only one team in CS Sfaxien of Tunisia were able to claim an away win in the first leg against Sudanese giants Al-Merrikh in 2007, winning 4-2. Sfaxien however got the job done in the return leg at home, winning 1-0 and 5-2 on aggregate.
That was the only time an away team has been victorious in the Confederation Cup final first leg before USM Alger replicated it last week. All indications suggest they will pull through in front of their supporters in Algiers.
Indeed, the support for North African teams in continental games is arguably second to none. The crowd are loud, vibrant and also intimidating to opposition teams. USM Alger fans will not make life easy for Young Africans when they have spells of domination. Even the players will be up to different antics to try and frustrate their Tanzanian opponents as much as possible.
It is how Young Africans respond to all this that will matter. It will be the ultimate test of mentality and should they reverse USM Alger’s two-away goal advantage and win by a two-goal margin, it would not only be a first in the CAF Confederation Cup final but it would go down as one of the biggest results in the history of the competition because as stated earlier, home teams rarely lose let alone formidable North African teams.
If Nabi’s men don’t do the extraordinary and end up losing, they would be scratching their heads for a long time as to why they allowed the advantage they had from the first leg to slip from their grasp.
Catch the CAF Confederation Cup final second leg LIVE on AFROSPORT TV across Nigeria, channel 730 on Free TV and stream online via Vidivu TV.
