Homegirls Vihiga Queens will be looking forward to starting off the hunt for continental glory with a bang when they host Mamelodi Sundowns in their first Group B match of the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League at Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, starting at 5 PM EAT.This will be the first match of the group, with the winner in the clash claiming the top spot awaiting results from the other encounter in the group between AS FAR Club and Rivers Angels which kicks off at 8 PM EAT.Ahead of the match, Vihiga Queens’ stand-in coach Charles Okere is looking forward to the game but is adamant that they have had quality preparations given the magnitude of their opponent’s quality.TOMORROW we KICK OFF our first match of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League against Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club Ladies Team..KICK OFF TIME : 4 PM (5 PM EAT)VENUE : Al-Salam Stadium Let’s do this!!!!!!#VihigaQueens#LegacyMakers pic.twitter.com/BIH5xBYe2b— Vihiga Queens FC (@Vihigaqueens) November 5, 2021 Queens will be hoping to kick off their campaign on a high, unlike their faulty start in the regional qualifiers where they lost to CBE in the opening match but dusted themselves off to win all the other games to the end.”I am looking forward to our game. We know Mamelodi Sundowns are a good team and we respect them. We have prepared for them so it will be an interesting game for both sides. We are the champions of Kenya and our zone too and now we are here to face other champions. Our ambition is to win the 1st edition of this tournament. We have set our goal to win every match. We will face each team with respect until we reach the final,” Okere told CAFonline.Former Sundowns captain and defender Agnes Nkosi is expected to be on the dugout assisting coach Jerry Tshabalala after successfully being in charge of the team in the regional qualifiers and admits that it will be a tough duel against Vihiga Queens.One of favourite things to do for any player on pre-match,it’s pitch inspection!The game of football is a game of inches. It’s doing the little things right that make all the difference on game day.Walking the pitch is one of them.#TotalEnergiesCAFWCL#SundownsLadies #Sundowns pic.twitter.com/pA2hseys6T— Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies Team (@SundownsLadies) November 5, 2021 However, she is confident that Masandawana have analyzed how their opponents in the group play and have prepared adequately for the same, while at the same time maintaining that they are not under any pressure to replicate their men counterparts heroics in 2016 that saw them win the equivalent competition that year.“It won’t be an easy game for us. Vihiga Queens have been crowned champions of Kenya 3 times in a row while we have only been crowned champions of South Africa twice. We can’t wait to get all three points. The first three points are very important to us. We know how they play and we have prepared well for them. We saw all the teams in the group with the help of our analyst. We don’t feel like we have to get the title like the men’s team did,” Nkosi said.From the regional qualifiers, Mamelodi Sundowns come into this game boasting of being the better sides statistically on most fronts, including going the whole length of the competition unbeaten.While Vihiga Queens had their goals concentrated around only five scorers, Sundowns had more than that number with 11 although they scored fewer goals than Okere’s side.Coach Charles Okere and Team Captain Enez Mango during today’s Pre-Match Press Conference at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo,Egypt ahead of tomorrow’s game against @SundownsLadies Team.We are ready, are you??”Its Time, Its Now!”#TotalEnergiesCAFWCL #VihigaQueens#LegacyMakers pic.twitter.com/wPtg9SZWNF— Vihiga Queens FC (@Vihigaqueens) November 5, 2021 Queens scored 25 goals in the zonal qualifiers across five games, including an 11-goals rout over South Sudan’s Yei Join Stars, while Sundowns scored 22 goals across the same number of goals, their biggest triumphs being identical 6-0 wins in the group stage.While the South Africans conceded only once in the five games in the competition, the Kenyans dug for the ball from the net six times, including an own goal against CBE in the final.With Gentrix Shikangwa, Tereza Engesha, and Violent Wanyonyi offering attacking options, together with new signing Christine Nafula, Queens will be hoping they have what it takes to go past Sundowns mean defense while at the same time keeping theirs firm from Sundowns threat from scorers distributed across the team.
