Gor Mahia Head Coach Charles Akonnor has stressed the importance of securing a convincing positive result on home soil when they take on Egyptian giants Pyramids FC in the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League at Nyayo National Stadium.
Speaking to the press on Saturday afternoon ahead of the highly anticipated continental fixture on Sunday, the Ghanaian tactician noted that leveraging on the home advantage is the key to navigating the two-legged tie before making the trip to Cairo for the return leg.
Akonnor made it clear that K’Ogalo’s entire preparation for the week has been centered around capitalizing on home advantage and executing the small tactical details that decide tight fixtures at the highest level of African club football.
“Indeed, it’s obvious that we need to have a good result here so that going back to the second leg, we know exactly what to do. For us, it’s very, very important,the little details that we need to do to be able to function very well, so that we’ll be able to have a good day tomorrow, is what we focus on.”
“We are very, very certain based on the fact our preparation towards this match throughout the week,we’ve analyzed the opponents, we’ve seen them, and we know what we can do in order to have a good result, in order to play a very good match, in order to also make our fans proud and Kenya proud,” said the former black stars captain.
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Akonnor issued a stern reminder to his squad regarding discipline and concentration.
Facing a Pyramids side stacked with experienced international stars, he warned that elite opposition will punish even the slightest lapse over the course of 90 minutes,
“The little mistake you do, you’ll be punished. And so we’ve worked on it. We believe that they’ve also come to realization that these are the things they have to do in order to have a good match and win.
The little, little details are important, very, very important, and we’ve analyzed it together as a team, knowing that the least mistake we do, we can be punished.”
While away trips to Egypt have been daunting for the green army resulting in seven losses from seven matches,Nairobi has traditionally provided a solid foundation, where K’Ogalo went over 50 years unbeaten at home against North African sides before Al Ahly broke the streak in 2024.
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