KCCA coach blames lack of experience for CAF confederations cup exit

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | KCCA FC’s Head Coach, Sérgio Traguil has attributed his team’s exit from the 2023/2024 TotalEnergies CAF Confederations Cup to lack of experience.

The Lugogo-based team yesterday exited the continental showpiece despite a 3-2 victory over Libya’s Abu Salem played at St Mary’s stadium in Kitende.

Usama Arafat scored two goals for KCCA FC, while Muhammad Shaban added one. Abu Salem’s goals were scored by Mohamed Elghadi and Abdulmunem Aiyelan.

Having suffered a 3-1 defeat in the first leg in Tunisia, KCCA FC needed a 2-0 victory to advance. However, it was the Libyan side that progressed with a 5-4 aggregate score.

The Lugogo giants had harbored hopes of replicating their 2017 achievement when they ousted Egypt’s Al Masry to secure a place in the group stage (last 16) of the CAF Total Confederations Cup. Unfortunately, they fell short of the challenge this time.

Tranquil has said that his team played well in the return leg but they had already lost the fixture after suffering the 3-1 loss in Tunisia where Abu Salim had hosted them.

He pointed out inexperience as one of the primary challenges that hindered their performance and handed their opponents an advantage in the fixture. Traguil mentioned that, particularly in Tunisia, his team could have performed better, but the lack of continental experience led to what he described as costly errors.

“Like I said even before this match, having a youth squad in this kind of situation especially when we are playing for important things, sometimes the consistency is lacking, we could have done better, especially in Tunisia. In Tunisia we did not handle this game very well, we made some silly mistakes, we were the ones who offered the balls to Abu Salem, ” he added.

“Despite having a youth team as well, they have experience looking at their strategy, we as opponents did not like what they did, they wasted time, and they put the balls out…. But that is their strategy, it shows that they have experience, and that is the kind of thing my team still doesn’t have,” said the KCCA FC coach.

However, it’s worth noting that while Coach Traguil cited KCCA FC’s inexperience, KCCA FC was handed a bye in the first round of the qualifiers as Abu Salem SC was battling it out with Tunisia’s Olympique Beja to make it to this stage.

KCCA FC will now shift their focus to the Uganda Premier League, where they are set to host Maroons on October 3rd, 2023.

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