Head Coach of Accra Hearts of Oak, Samuel Boadu, has called on the club’s teeming supporters to have belief in the team’s ability to qualify to the league stage of the CAF Champions League competition.
Coach Boadu said it was too early to give up hope on qualification because of the slim win recorded in the first leg encounter on home soil.
Hearts put up a spirited performance on Sunday against North Africa opposition,Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco but churned out 1-0 win over the 2019 winners.
That appears to have forced a section of fans to throw hands in despair, knowing how unfriendly the North African terrain, especially in circumstances of this nature, can be.
But reacting in a post-match presser,Coach Boadu expressed the belief that although the score-line was not what they envisaged, they have what it takes to qualify in faraway Morocco this weekend.
“Our supporters should not give up. We should be guided by our’Never Say Die’ motto. That must spur us on as we move to that dangerous territory. Others might have gone there and not survive but this is Hearts of Oak. We have the men to do this job.”
According to him, a few of his players played with injuries, which also did not help their course.
“Raddy Ovouka’s substitution was as a result of some earlier pains he had, and his withdrawal, coupled with injuries to Caleb Amankwah, Emmanuel Nettey, Ibrahim Salifu among others, affected our play.”
According to him, they have a few days to work on the fitness of these players and hoped thatthe team doctors and physiotherapists work hard to get them fit for the Casablanca tie.
He said having watched the Moroccans,Hearts have an idea about the opposition, and would pick the positives from the game and build upon it ahead of Sunday’s fixture to be played at the King Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
