Fadlu Makes Liverpool Claim After Simba’s CAFCC Defeat
South African coach Fadlu Davids has likened Simba’s setback to Liverpool’s historic UEFA Champions League moment after his side suffered a 2-0 defeat to Al Masry in their first leg of the CAF Confederations Cup quarterfinals.
The Tanzanian giants fell short to goals from Abderrahim Deghmoum and John Ebuka in Egypt.
Simba will have to dig deep to overturn the two-goal deficit when they welcome the Egyptian outfit for the return leg at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on 9 April.
While the defeat has his team on the backfoot, the 43-year-old tactician draws inspiration from English Premier League giants Liverpool, who came back from 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan to win the 2005 UEFA Champions League on penalties in Istanbul, Turkey.
“Liverpool [against] AC Milan, 3-0 down [with] 45 minutes left – Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League. We have 90 minutes left at Benjamin Mkapa at 4:00 p.m. and 35 degrees of heat,” Davids confidently said.
However, despite his confidence, Davids is aware of the danger posed by the North African side against the run of play, calling for a much more focused approach in attack to avoid conceding goals on the counter as they did in the first leg.
“We know Al Masry will sit back; Al Masry has weapons. They have Ben Youssef, even on the sides there’s [Amr] El Saadawy and even if Hassan Ali plays, they have a lot of options in counter attacks,” added the Simba mentor.
“So, we have to be structured in how we attack, not to allow any counter attacks. Our attacking structure is very important [in terms of] how we play at Benjamin Mkapa and not to concede the counterattacks.
“We have to be very wary of how we attack to try to score because it will be a match where we try to score, but one counter attack can give them the away goal. So, we have to be structured with our attacking approach, but we believe the tie is not over.”
Furthermore, the former Orlando Pirates co-coach, who guided the Soweto giants to a CAF Confederations Cup final alongside Mandla Ncikazi in 2022, where they lost to RS Berkane, reiterated that the encounter is not over, insisting the first leg result is not the true reflection of the match.
“We were completely dominant in the second half, 60% ball possession, 18 shots, seven on target for an away team is not normal. But we were naïve in relation to not taking our chances; we had moments to make it 2-1 and even 3-1, but one counter in the end [finished us],” Davids continued.
“But it’s not over, we believe, we want our fans to believe, we want our fans to come there and be behind us and if we execute our game plan for 90 minutes, we stand a good chance of qualifying, but we know it’s going to be difficult because one goal for them is an away goal then we have to score two more.”
