Ndikumana seeks to go one better over Robinho

Uefa CupTONIGHTMan City  v AC Omonio-SS7FC Honka  v Racing Santander

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Uefa Cup
TONIGHT
Man City  v
AC Omonio-SS7
FC Honka  v
Racing Santander

RWANDA’S Amavubi Stars’ defender Hamad Ndikumana will be in  Cypriot side AC Omonio that will be seeking to overhaul a 2-1 Uefa Cup first leg  defeat at the hands of English Premier League side Manchester City tonight.

Not being able to earn victory at home, Ndikumana and fellow teammates must work hard to record a victory in the Eastlands.

According to uefa.com, AC Omonia defender Elias Charalambous is confident his club is in good physical and psychological shape and their aim was always to qualify for the group stage of the competition.

"In football, anything can be accomplished as long as you believe. We believe in ourselves and we will give everything to win,”

The Cypriot club stunned AEK Athens FC 3-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round to set up a meeting with Mark Hughes’s side, and their Bosnian coach Nedim Dudic is looking for a repeat of that giant-killing form again in front of an expected capacity crowd in Manchester tonight.

"We have a very tough game ahead of us but, whatever the opponent, we always aim to win,” said Dudic. "And that is what we aim to do against Manchester City”

Manchester City boasts some high-profile names among their ranks in Robinho, Jo and Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Dudic insists his side will not be on the defensive.

"We will not just sit back,” he added. "You can be sure that we will play attacking football because that is the only way to try and achieve a good advantage.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes believes his side has strong attacking options as they head towards tonight’s clash.

Jo’s first goals for the club following his £19million move from CSKA Moscow helped overcome AC Omonia 2-1 in their first round first leg match in Cyprus.

While Hughes was thrilled with the Brazilian’s contribution, he also praised record signing Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is in his second spell with the club.

City rallied after Klodian Duro opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick in the 49th minute.

Hughes, however, is refusing to take the second leg for granted. He said: "Omonia worked extremely hard and are a decent side. We knew we had to play well and there is still work to be done in the return match.

Elsewhere, Rwanda’s Mohammed Tchitee a.k.a Meme will lead Racing Santander’s hunt for Uefa Cup glory as they play away to FC Honka of Finland.

Ends