Kampala dare Kalampa

KAMPALA City Council Authority (KCCA) are not intimidated meeting Nkana in the CAF Champions League first round.
KCCA coach George Nsimbe told the New Vision that his team is ready to face any team on the continent.
KCCA eliminated Sudanese side Al Merreikh 3-2 on aggregate while Nkana beat Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland 5-4 after two legs.
Nsimbe, who described Nkana as a familiar outfit to Ugandan clubs, however admitted playing the Zambian champions will not be easy.
Nkana will host KCCA on March 1 with the return leg in Kampala after a week
“It is not going to be an easy game, but I am confident and everything is possible. First and foremost there is no easy team in the competition. We are facing a tough team. Nkana are an experienced team and have been playing in this competition for a long time. But this should not worry us and that is should motivate us more.
“That should also give us impetus. It should give us positive thinking before the game. We should not just keep improving but also be at our best,” Nsimbe said.
Nsimbe is confident KCCA have learnt lessons from the home defeat to Al Merreikh.
“This [home loss] can be a motivating factor ahead of our next game. To me I believe if you lose today, you just have to pick yourself up and go and win the next match. That is the true sign of a champion. We are going to pick up the pieces and we have a week to correct our mistakes,” he said.
Nkana have an impressive record against Ugandan teams having eliminated Kampala Express and SC Villa from the African Club Champions Cup.
In the 1983 edition, Nkana thrashed SC Villa 4-0 in Kitwe before losing 1-2 in Kampala. The Kitwe giants also eliminated Express from the 1990 edition 4-1 on aggregate.
Nkana trounced KCCA 6-0 in the 1992 edition.
And the Nkana Football Club executive committee is optimistic the team can overcome KCCA.
Nkana secretary Ken Mwansa said in Ndola on Sunday that the Reds’ showing on Saturday is testimony the Kitwe giants are capable of taking on any side in Africa.
“Coming from a three-goal deficit and scoring five goals shows the character in the players and the team. It will not be easy in the first round but we should finish them off in the first leg at home
“We need to get the result at home and travel for formality,” Mwansa said.
On Saturday, Nkana conceded as early as the sixth minute to trail 3-0 on aggregate before scoring five times and win 5-2 to qualify for the first round 5-4 after two legs.
But Mwansa was cautious saying the Uganda outfit cannot be underrated having eliminated a top and experienced African club, Al Merreikh.
“We have played them before but that was a long time ago. All I can say is we know very little about them but what we know is that we play similar football with East African teams,” he said.