20 Feb 2018

Jwaneng Galaxy  face an uphill battle to keep alive their dream of proceeding to the next round of the CAF confederation cup.Jwaneng giants narrowly lost by a solitary goal to Costa do Sol in a tightly contested first leg encounter in Maputo a fortnight ago.

Galaxy tonight host Costa do Sol from Mozambique at the National Stadium in the preliminary round second leg.With a 1-0 close margin deficit, Galaxy will surely have some sense of belief and approach the game with  some wind beneath their wings  and no mood to raise the flag of surrender but clearly acknowledge that tough times lie ahead.

The nation’s pride will surely be resting on Galaxy to turn the fortunes around and use the home ground as the 12^th player to their advantage, which tells a story that Galaxy clearly need a win to restore a sense of pride.

A goal in the dying minutes on the first leg encounter is an indication  that Galaxy can match their opponents pound to pound and it was properly a case of mental and concentration lapse, something Galaxy will have to rectify in tomorrow’s  game.Galaxy president, Tlhaloganyo Morake has admitted that his team is up against a tough side and need to win the game if they are to claw back in to the fixture and proceed to the next round.

 “This is a mammoth task, far tougher than the one we faced in Mozambique but we are optimistic that that our opponents will have a blip that will work to our advantage,” he conceded.

He said  they have a full squad ahead of the ncounter, with goalkeeper Anthony Gouws the only one missing due to a long time injury. A huge moral boost in the Galaxy dugout will be the presence of their newly appointed coach Zlatko Krmpotic who will be on the bench for the first time as he recently received his work permit. Krmpotic brings with him a vast amount of experience in continental competitions having been with arguably the most decorated team in Africa, TP Mazembe.

The Serbian tactician has  coached in Sweden, Marcedonia, Turkey, Serbia, Kuwaiti and Zambia where he won the Zambian league with Zesco United FC hence his understanding of the game might come handy to bring victory in tonight’s game.The aggregate winner will face either Young Buffaloes from Swaziland or Cape Town City FC from South Africa. Ends