Coach of ASC Jaraaf of Senegal, Malik Daf has expressed delight at overcoming the threat of Kano Pillars in the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round, noting that his strategy paid off.
ASC Jaraaf were held to a goalless draw at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium Kaduna on Saturday after defeating Kano Pillars 3-1 in the first leg in Dakar, Senegal a weeks ago to earn a 3-1 aggregate win and qualify for the group stage of the tournament.
According to Malik Daf, who is also Senegal’s U-20 national team coach, Pillars are a big side but after studying them and securing the first leg win, he decided to play safe in the second leg to ensure that they did not lose.
“I’m satisfied with the draw. After our 3-1 win in Senegal, it was very important to me to ensure our qualification. So, I told my players not to go out too much. Pillars have very strong in attack, but I told my players to set up in the midfield and defence to make the game difficult for them. I’m satisfied with the officiating, it was good.”
But Kano Pillars gaffer, Emmanuel Lionel Soccia has blamed their ouster from the CAF Confederation Cup on bad officiating by the Burkina Faso referee. He told sports writers after the game, that they suffered bad officiating in both legs of the game.
“The game was ok but officiating was poor. We lost the first leg from two offside goals against us. We deserved two penalties in today’s game and were denied. If we have a good referee, the game would have been good,” the French born gaffer said.
The game was drab in the first half with both sides playing without bite, but in the second half the game changed, as Pillars became more adventurous but were undone by poor planning and anxiety. Despite playing defensively, the visitors had the clearer and best chances of the game.
