KAMPALA. The belief that Uganda’s most successful club SC Villa can go all the way to the playoffs of the Caf Confederations Cup was made public by club president Ben Misagga last month.
And after knocking out Al Khartoum of Sudan 2-0 on aggregate on Sunday, Villa’s captain Jonathan ‘Dante’ Mugabi reckoned the same.
“We are here to go all the way,” Dante told Daily Monitor after Godfrey Lwesibawa’s goal gave Villa a 1-0 win over the Sudan side.
“You see so many people are saying that we are weak and inexperienced; we want to make sure we change the thinking of everyone who reasons like that,” he added.
SC Villa will play Jeshi la Kujenga Uchumi (JKU) of Zanzibar next weekend in the first round. Should they advance over two legs, they will take on either Deportivo Mongomo from Equatorial Guinea or Moroccan outfit FUS Rabat next month.
Once Villa passes that test, they will be in the play-off round, where they will be joined by the losers of the 2016 CAF Champions League second round.
It’s from the playoffs that the winner eventually qualifies for the group stages.
“We are well aware of what awaits us and we are not taking a back seat to wait for everything to fall in place.
“We are working hard because we know where we want to be as a team but also as players,” the central defender added.
Where Dante wants Villa to be, they have been there before – in 1992 when they defeated Moneni Pirates 5-2 on aggregate in the first round.
The Jogoos then defeated Kisumu Postal of Kenya 2-0 on aggregate in the second round, winning each tie with a solitary goal.
In the quarter finals, Villa saw off ASMO Libreville of Gabon 3-2 on aggregate before eliminating Mozambique’s in a penalty shoot-out.
Villa lost the two-legged final to Nigeria’s Shooting Stars 3-0 on aggregate.
ckyazze@ug.nationmedia.com
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