Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Anthony Akumu is pumped up for Saturday’s CAF Champions League semifinal return leg match against Wydad Casablanca.Chiefs head to the reverse fixture with a 1-0 advantage having stunned Waydad in Casablanca last Saturday. 90 minutes of football sits between them and a place in the final where they will play the winner of the other semifinal match between Al Ahly of Egypt and Tunisian giants, Esperance.Ahead of the match that will be played at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, Akumu says everyone in the team is upbeat and that they are keen on winning on Saturday.“It is a big game on Saturday, and you can see the positivity from each and every one. The attitude is there; the character is there; the ingredients are there, and it is all about Saturday now because we are all thinking with the same spirit and I believe we are going to get another win,” The Kenyan international told the club’s communication team.Matokeo michuano ya CAF Champions League. Al Ahly ya Misri na Kaizer Chiefs anayochezea mkenya 🇰🇪 Teddy Akumu walivuna ushindi muhimu wa ugenini kwenye michuano hii ya nusu fainali mkondo wa kwanza.✅ Esperance🇹🇳 0-1 🇪🇬Al Ahly ✅Wydad🇲🇦 0-1 🇿🇦Kaizer Chiefs#CAFChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/8aDxfTRjTj— Mozzart Bet Kenya (@mozzartbetkenya) June 20, 2021 Akumu however admits that they face seasoned CAF Champions League participants and they will have to play to their own strengths and work on their mistakes.”Wydad have a lot of experienced players who have been playing continental football year-in and year-out, so they have that experience to be there but that doesn’t matter. It is about us and how we are preparing, how we are going to approach them and how we are going to handle our mistakes and strengths. That is the most important thing for us,” he added.Reflecting on last weekend’s win in Morocco, the former Gor Mahia midfielder said they were confident of getting a good result there based on how they had prepared for the game.”Going to Morocco, we knew that we would come back with a positive result. We didn’t care that it was a draw or win. We could see it starting from the training back here at Naturena. We had all the plans, and the approach to the game was also positive, that is why we got the most important goal and the positive result that we got there,” he continued.26.06.2021. 18h00 kick-off! #Amakhosi4Life #TotalCAFCL pic.twitter.com/TGujTZpLpS— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) June 25, 2021 Akumu played for ten minutes in Morocco and he reveals that he had clear instructions on what to do once he got to the pitch.”It was a privilege to get the 10 minutes that I got, and I thank the coach for the opportunity. All I did was to follow the instructions as he told me, that I should go in to help the defence and cover the spaces. That is all I did until the final whistle,” he concluded.Akumu will be hoping to become the first Kenyan to win the CAF Champions League title.
