Kenya Police FC head coach Anthony Kimani is confident they have what it takes to overturn their first-leg CAF Confederation Cup defeat suffered at the hands of Egyptian giants Zamalek.
The law enforcers, who are making their maiden appearance in the inter-club competition following their success in winning the domestic Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Cup last season, suffered a 1-0 defeat against the defending champions in the second preliminary round fixture at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday, September 14.
“We don’t need to be reminded that they (Zamalek) are the defending champions, they have been around for the longest time, have already made their mark in African football and they will be enjoying the advantage from the first leg win, but our work is to make sure we do our job and reverse the result,” Kimani told Flashscore.
“We have worked on the mistakes from the first leg, it is still possible (to beat them and qualify), we have a good chance to achieve it, we still have over 90 minutes to go there and make things right and knock them out.
“It will be very unfair for us to lose hope at this stage with the game still at 1-0, we don’t want to think the game is over, it is not over, we can only lose hope at the final whistle, but we are heading to Cairo with one mission: to go and try to win. We know more against them now, and we are familiar with them, we know what to expect from them hence our readiness to deliver.”
Revisiting the first leg display where Police created a host of scoring chances but their strikers led by Jesse Were could not convert, Kimani said: “Against them in the first leg we showed we can fight for every ball, we can take the game to their territory, but our main undoing was a failure to use the chances we created, in football missed chances count for nothing unless they are turned into goals.
“We have talked to my players about it (missed chances) and told them the importance of taking them, and we are ready to give our best.”
After the game at Nyayo, Zamalek coach James Gomes admitted Police were the better side and should have carried the day had they taken their chances.
“Police showed up for the game, they were all over the pitch but could not convert their chances, we beat them because we scored from the chance we created,” said the Swiss tactician.
“We will not underrate them, they have good players in their squad, who can play anywhere in the world, and any mistake to underrate them may be suicidal to our chances, and remember 1-0 means nothing, so we must stay focused to finish the job in Cairo.”
Police played Zamalek minus six key players – striker Clinton Kinanga, goalkeeper John Njau, left-back Geoffrey Onyango (who signed from Kariobangi Sharks), and midfielders Erick Zakayo, Duncan Otieno and David Owino – owing to injuries.