Defiant Sunshine won't give up yet

Despite letting in three goals at home,
Sunshine said they could still go past
Al Ahly and qualify for the CAF
Champions League final.
Sunshine Stars midfielder Tamen
Mendrano told reporters they
are in a tight corner after a 3-3 at
home against Egyptian champions
Ahly, but they will hope to wriggle out
of it to reach the final against either
Esperance or TP Mazembe.
"It is not over for us, we wanted to
win but ended up with draw,” insisted
Mendrano, who capped a fine display
in Ijebu-Ode with a great goal.
“We still have second leg to play. It
has happened before and we
survived it. We will again take the
battle to Al Ahly in the second leg."
Sunshine coach Gbenga Ogunbote
was equally defiant after the six-goal
thriller.
"It is not over. We will go to Cairo for
our result to take us to final,”
maintained Ogunbote.
“If we get the kind of officiating that
we had here in Cairo, we will get to
final.”
Ahly coach Hossam Al-Badri said his
players’ fitness ensured they got a
good result on the road.
"We know what Sunshine Stars can
do, so we went into long-term
camping to make sure the players
maintained their fitness level and plan
for the game. We also played friendly
matches to put the boys in
match situation,” said Al-Badri.
“It really worked for us. We came here
to tame Sunshine and go for goals
which we were able to achieve,
scoring three goals away is good for
us.
“Sunshine are a good side with great
character. I must give them credit for
their display and we won't relent in
our preparation ahead of the second
leg."
Al-Badri told reporters his
club will not be affected by the
absence of fans in the return leg
match, which will be played behind
closed doors.
"Though the fans have their own
contributions to the success of a game
by cheering the team, we are ready to
play without them at home for the
return leg and get the result that we
need," he said.