Mighty Wanderers have apologised to the club’s president Thomson Mpinganjira and the fans for their early exit in the CAF Confederation Cup.
The business mogul and philanthropist set group stage qualification as a target, but they were booted out by Botswana outfit Jwaneng Galaxy in the preliminary round 7-6 on post-match penalties on Saturday night.
The club’s director responsible for football David Kanyenda said: “We apologise to the president and the entire Wanderers family.
“It was a very tough match for us. Of course, in the first half, we contained them, but in the second half, they dominated leading to the only goal of the match.
“In the end, we tied, but unfortunately we lost in penalties which shows that we are not far off from a team that has been doing well in CAF tournaments.”
On his part, coach Bob Mpinganjira acknowledged that they were up against a strong side.
“We were up against a well exposed and experienced side. They reached the group stages of the CAF Champions League in the past editions in which they beat big teams such as Orlando Pirates [of South Africa] and Simba SC [of Tanzania],” he said.
Mpinganjira also said there were positives drawn from the two games. “Most of our players don’t have international exposure, so it was good for them. So, I appeal for patience from the entire Wanderers family as we build this team to reach greater heights.”
He said the Nomads played well in the first half in which they created a couple of chances, but lost the plot in the second half in which they sat back.
On the club’s failure to meet the target set by their president, the coach said: “I know the president had his expectations and he was justified to come up with the target.
“But I am sure he will bear with us as we work on this project. My pleasure would be that we should continue taking part in such tournaments to achieve our goal.”
He said they will have a technical review meeting to see where they fell short and map the way forward.
