FCB Nyasa Big Bullets coach Kalisto Pasuwa has provided his initial reaction to a tricky CAF Champions League first round preliminary stage against Equatorial Guinea’s Dragon FC.
The People’s Team was drawn against Dragon FC during the draw in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday afternoon.
Commenting on the draw, Pasuwa believes that unknown opponents pose more threat than familiar teams hence the need for his boys to be tactically better than their opposition.
“Very good game, but again, these are unknown opponents that we don’t know much about them and that’s how tough it will be for us, so we need not to underestimate them,” he told Bullets media.
On what will it take for his charges to sail through? The tactician said they would need support from everyone involved in the running of the club.
“We need to put everything in order for us to sail through. In these competitions, it’s not about being on the field of play. It’s a collective responsibility from everyone, ranging from the management to supporters. All in all, to the boys, we have been there. We also played Yanga in a friendly match, and they know what it takes to perform at an international stage.
“We played some of the teams from Mozambique at the start of the season and these boys saw how the Champions League is played, it’s not about running everywhere, you need to be very tactical in order to progress,” he added.
Pasuwa was quick to dismiss the assertion that Bullets are favorites going into the match, considering that their opponents haven’t been playing in CAF Champions League for years.
“The problem with us is that we have been rebuilding. We are always bringing youngsters to the team year in, year out. If there was consistency of saying we play Patrick Mwaungulu who played in the last two to three years, it could have been better, but if you can see, we are having three to four guys promoted from the Reserves last time and we had some whom we used when we played Simba and are no longer with us and we also brought in some new guys.
“If you read between the lines, the coaches are more familiar with playing in CAF Champions League than players than the players because we are always rebuilding and losing players,” he explained.
On beefing up his squad, Pasuwa said there is a need to create space first before thinking about bringing in new players.
“We have a problem where we registered 33 players, meaning we have no space at the moment. But if we can analyze the squad and release some of the players who are not doing well, we can add some new faces to the team.
The first leg will be played from 18 to 20 August 2023, with the return legs set for days later.
The People’s Team will travel to Equatorial Guinea in the first leg before hosting their opponents in the second leg.
A win over Dragon FC will see Bullets facing DRC’s TP Mazembe in the second round of the qualifying games.
