Masters laud CAF lessons despite early exit

Masters Security have described their brief spell in the CAF Confederations Cup as a venture worth taking.

Masters crashed out of the competition at the first hurdle, following a 5-0 aggregate loss at the hands of Angolan side Petro de Luanda.

Despite an encouraging display that forced the visitors to a goalless draw in the return leg at the Bingu National Stadium on Tuesday, Alfred Gangata’s wards had already bottled it having leaked five unanswered goals in Luanda on 10 February.

While some soccer fans and pundits believe the capital club which struggled in its debut Super League season last year, wasn’t ready for the big stage, general secretary Zachariah Nyirenda insists a fling with Africa’s second tier club competition was a venture whose positives outweighed the negatives.

“We have no regrets whatsoever because it was a fruitful venture despite suffering an early exit and we are encouraging other teams to borrow a leaf from our book next year and they will not regret it. There were lots of lessons learnt administratively and technically and we believe our players are no longer the same. Holding a team that beat us 5-0 two weeks ago, is on its own a sign of improvement and we believe the exposure will raise the confidence among the players,” said Nyirenda

He however fears that their international exposure could invite them more trouble on the local scene.

“All positives aside, but this might heighten the competition for us on the local arena because most of the teams will come hard on us, trying to prove a point against CAF ambassadors, but we will face the challenge head on,” he said.

Masters were on Wednesday joined on the casualty list by domestic league champions Be Forward Wanderers, who were handed a dosage of double defeat by DRC outfit AS Vita in the CAF Champions League, thereby dashing Malawi’s hopes in the continental showpiece.

Trounced 4-0 in Kinshasa on 11 February, the Nomads exited the party after an embarrassing 6-1 aggregate defeat, following a 2-1 home loss at the Bingu National Stadium.