Carteron: We hope to turn the tide (www.free-kick.net)

Carteron: We hope to turn the tide

TP Mazembe coach, Patrice Carteron remains upbeat on overturning the results in this weekend’s 2013 Orange CAF Confederation Cup final second leg against Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien.Les Corbeaux have a two-goal deficit from the first leg held in Rades last week, and have a tall mountain of scoring at least three unanswered goals in the encounter billed for Saturday, November 30 at the Stade de TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi.Carteron insists the task is achievable after reviewing his team’s performance in the previous fixture, where they were undone by two assists from danger-man of Sfaxien Fakhereddine Ben Youssef, leading to goals in each half from Didier Ibrahim Ndong and Yassine Khenissi.

The 43-year old is inspired by the stunning comeback of his native France against Ukraine in the 2014 FIFA World Cup playoff, that saw Les Blues beat Ukraine win 3-0 to go through after a 2-0 loss in the first leg.“We will try to inspire ourselves with the exploit of France against Ukraine. We could not compete (in the first leg) and I hope we manage to compete next week (second leg). With this deficit, you must pull an extraordinary performance to get it right,” said Carteron.However, the Frenchman reckons a tough test against the Tunisians, who are making a fourth appearance in the deciding game of the second-tier continental club championship. But, he is still wary of the threat of Ben Youssef, who was the game-changer in the previous meeting last week.
“It is not for nothing that CS Sfaxien are undefeated this season in the competition. They have a strong and good team. They have a quality player (Ben Youssef), who made the difference in the first leg.“He (Ben Youssef) did not score, but provided the decisive passes to the two goals,” he added.Carteron’s ambitions have been buoyed by Club President, Moise Katumbi, who has refused to give up on their chances.“We must continue to have faith in the team. We lost just a battle not the war. We will do our best to ensure the trophy remains in DR Congo,” Katumbi was quoted by the club’s official website.Les Corbeaux will be banking on the experience of captain Tresor Mputu, goalkeeper Muteba Kidiaba, defensive pair Joel Kimwaki and Kiritsho Kasusula to turn the tide their favour.Mazembe, four-time winners of the premier continental club championship, 1967, 1968, 2009 and 2010, also won the defunct CAF Cup Winners Cup in 1980.

Carteron: We hope to turn the tide