RS Berkane coach Mounir Jaouani is optimistic that his team will beat CS Sfaxien in the second leg game and book a place in the CAF Confederation Cup final.
The Moroccan side will face Sfaxien at the Stade de Berkane in the second leg of their semi-final tie this coming Sunday.
Jaouani’s charges lost first leg 2-0 on Sunday 28 April in the Tunisian city of Sfax.
“The qualification will be decided in Morocco, regardless of today’s (Sunday) result. The team that deserves to qualify will go through,” Jaouani told CafOnline.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “We were keeping up with Sfaxien’s style of play in the first half but tried to change that later. There is still plenty of hope. It’s just up to us to prepare well for the next game.” [/perfectpullquote]
Jaouani’s sentiments were echoed by midfielder Malih El Mahdi who clearly stated how well they will handle the return match despite the loss on Sunday.
“It was a difficult game. We came here looking for a positive result but weren’t fortunate enough. I thank our fans who turned up to support us. We lost the battle, but not the war, and hopefully we’ll secure the qualification next week at home,” he said.
Berkane fell by Ala Marzougui’s goal in the first half and a well-taken penalty by Hamza Mathluthi in the second half.
It is worth noting that the winner between Berkane and Sfaxien will face the winner between Etoile du Sahel and Zamalek, in which the latter hold a 1-0 first-leg advantage they achieved in Egypt.