Ultimate magazine theme for WordPress.

Matlama ready for battle

Moorosi Tsiane

MATLAMA assistant coach Mosito Matela says his team is fired up and ready for battle ahead of the crucial CAF Champions League tie against Petro De Luanda of Angola at Setsoto Stadium this afternoon.

Tse Putsoa, who are the country’s most successful team with 10 league titles, return to continental football after nine seasons of absence.

Matela said they should capitalise on that to make things easier for them going into the return leg a week later in Angola.

“The boys are ready and looking forward to the match,” Matela said.

“It will be an exciting experience for some of the players since it’s their first time in continental football.

“We are starting at home and we know it is not going to be easy with the pressure, but we are the champions and we have to play as such against other heavyweights.

“We need to finish the match here at home so that we lessen the burden in the return leg,” Matela said.

Matela, who was also part of the Bantu technical team when they played Gabonese side AS Mangasport in 2015, said the Matlama technical team had done its job to prepare for today’s tie.

He said players have been gelling well with new coach Charles Manda.

“I think we have done our job as the technical team. It will be up to the players to finish off the job on Sunday (today).

“The players have also been gelling well with the coach, understanding how the coach wants them to play. They are very excited, and the level of fitness is high, which is one of the things that the new coach has helped us with a lot.

“Manda is bringing new dimensions to this team and players are responding positively.

“He is very clear on how he wants things to be done and he takes charge. He is good not only at talking but also practically you see him working,” Matela said.

He added that they have also taken time to watch their opponents to study Petro de Luanda on video.

“We have watched their clips and tried to assess how they play, so our players just need to stick to our game plan and see how the opponents will react,” Matela said.

Comments are closed.