Stars draw first blood in Gaborone series

Ronnie Kanalelo needs African Stars to build on their excellent first half performance in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy to secure progression to the next CAF Champions League round.

The Namibian champions took the initiative in the two-legged first preliminary round clash through talisman Willy Stephanus’ fifth minute header at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone, where Stars will look to seal the deal this weekend.

The margin of victory should have been greater, says head coach Fillemon Kanalelo who feels his charges could have put the tie to bed ahead of the return leg, had they been more efficient in front of the goal.

“I think we had a very good first half and were just let down by lapses in the final third. But organisation wise, we did very well,” Kanalelo said in a post match analysis with BW Botswana Television.

“We didn’t really give them space to play. We minimised their game and forced them to try and go through the central areas and that was not their strongest option because it was overcrowded,” he said of Stars’ tactics on the day.

Apart from switching benches and changing rooms, Kanalelo wants a more sustained smothering, diligent, and ruthless approach from his side on Saturday.

He believes Jwaneng to have the better collection of players but that Stars team ethic is superior.

“If you look at the game [from Saturday], we need to be a little bit clear in the final third, where we need to do a lot of work in terms of our movement and precision,” said Kanalelo.

“They are a good side. I believe they have better players than us and are well-tested in continental competitions. So, for us its mostly about teamwork.

“I think we lack a bit of punch in the final third and we couldn’t hold the ball in certain moments and put pressure on their defence in most situations. So, that needs to be sharpened up a bit,” he said.

Jwaneng head coach Morena Ramoreboli believes they can turn the tide around as his side showed they were the better team on Saturday.

“I think we played well. It’s just unfortunate that we don’t have the result to show. We created more than what they did,” says Ramoreboli.

“They only got one opportunity which I think really was not supposed to be a goal. Defensively, we did let ourselves down. We could have done better,” he continued.

“We tried. We did everything that a team that wanted to win on the day could’ve done. If it’s not meant for you, it’s not. We’ll go back and try again, and I believe that we will come back stronger.”