Bring them on, Oburu dares Shandy ahead of Bandaris continental battle

Bandari’s team manager Wilson Oburu has thrown down the gauntlet  to Sudanese side Al Ahly Shandy saying that the dockers are more than ready to meet them in an epic CAF Confederations Cup battle.

The dockers were at the weekend paired with Shandy in the preliminary tie of the Confederations Cup, a two leg fixture and Oburu who himself had a long stint between the goalposts  in his hey days before heading for the technical bench believes the coastal based side will be equal to the task

Oburu who captained the dockers in the 2016 Confederation Cup where they were eliminated in the first round by Congolese side St Eloi Lupopo said they are preparing intensively as they understand their opponents well and the enormity of the task that lies ahead.

“It is a fair draw for us,” he said. “Al Ahly is a good team, competitive and experienced too but we are not scared of them,” Oburu said, declaring their readiness for an all-out football battle.

The Mombasa based club resumed training Tuesday, a week after returning from Rwanda where they were embarrassingly tossed out at the preliminary without winning a win. In a bizarre performance, they didn’t lose a match too.

The Bernard Mwalala coached side will host the Sudanese between August 9-11 in Nairobi before travelling to Sudan for their return leg between  August 23-25, with the aggregate winner facing US Ben Guerdane of Tunisia or Amarat of South Sudan in the second round.

The former Kenyan international also maintains that the squad is rich in confidence despite losing their number one goalie of last term Farouk Shikhalo who joined Tanzanian outfit Yanga.

Coupled with a recent high intensive training in South African, Oburu is adamant that the Cecafa sojourn has helped in their preparations as they aim to impress in Africa.

“We have played international friendlies and the Cecafa Cup has made us improve meaning we have able players.”

Bandari have already signed Danson Chetambe and Nairobi Stima’s Alex ‘Dunga’ Luganji to beef up their squad for the new season.