Moment of truth for APR

SaturdayFirst round; 2nd legAPR FC Vs Djoliba AC 4:30pm APR FC take on Djoliba AC de Bamako in the First Round 2nd leg of CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday at Amahoro National Stadium, knowing that nothing less than victory by two-goal margin will book them a place in the next round. The Malian side hold a slim 1-0 advantage from the first leg played ten days ago in Bamako. The lone goal was netted by Cheikh Niang. The aggregate winner after today’s game will play in the play-off round with the eventual winner sealing a place in the lucrative group stage. APR head coach Ljubomir ‘Ljupko’ Petrovic vowed that, “We need and we must win the match on Saturday. We will put out a team that we believe can get the result we need to progress to the next phase.” “Looking at how the players have done in training, I am confident we can eliminate this team (Djoliba) on Saturday,” the Serbian said after Thursday’s training session at Amahoro stadium. The army side have been in residential training camp since Wednesday in Shyorongi as they prepared for the crucial return leg clash. He added that, “We must do everything possible to win the match on Saturday; we know it will not be an easy task but we have to believe. APR is a good team, I know it quite well and I know the current players.” “You see that most of the players on the team are good, players like Omborenga (Fitina) and (Emmanuel) Imanishimwe are on a good level (but I didn’t know them). Others are good but I need more to work with them so that we take the team forward,” the recently appointed Petrovic noted. Meanwhile, Djoliba head coach, Fanyeri Diarra, said that, “We came to Kigali with the ambition to win, we can’t go into the match to defend one goal, and we must attack from the first to the last minute.” “Djoliba is the only team from Mali still a continental competition, which means the whole country is behind us and we will do everything possible to reach the next stage,” Diarra declared. Djoliba reached the group stages of CAF Confederation Cup in 2012 while APR have never reached the stage since they made their debut in Africa’s biggest club competition in 1997. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Moment of truth for APR