Drink your fill: Tusker brewing potent beer for Solar 7

Jacob IciaSub editor

Tusker FC captain Eugine Asike is upbeat they will advance from the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League, following their 1-1 away draw in their first leg against Djibouti’s Arta Solar 7 on Saturday.

And to attain this goal, Asike says the brewers will leave no stone unturned, even if it means brewing a potent mix of beer, Tusker, a preferred drink on these shows, to administer to the seemingly stubborn visitors.

But who can begrudge him? Consuming one too many has left many in stupor, and Asike, like the rest of his team mates believe that the right dose will just do the trick,  disarm Solar, and brighten their path to the Round One of the qualifiers.

“Yes of course when playing away from home, when you get a draw is good. We came here (Djibouti City), you could see the conditions were not favourable, we had to cope and adapt, and I want to congratulate the boys because everyone put up a good fight, now we focus on our return leg,” said Asike.

The Harambee Stars centre-back hopes the one point gained away will inspire a better show at home, as the Ruaraka-based brewers seek to play Egyptian giants Zamalek.

“We will be playing at home, we need to go into the match more confident but rectify the mistakes we made in today’s game (Saturday) and then be positive when playing at home going for a positive result,” Asike further noted.

His teammate and Tusker’s new signing Ibrahim Joshua is also keen to have a more convincing performance at home, after a dream debut in Djibouti where he scored their only goal.

“I’m so thankful to God for giving the good start that I wanted. I really wanted to score for my new team and God has made it possible. We would have loved to go home with three points but we are thankful for the draw too, because the conditions here were not to our advantage. At home it will be do or die,” the Tanzanian promised.

Former West Ham forward Diafra Sakho who now turns out for Solar 7 is however optimistic they can stage a better show in Nairobi than they did at home, and end Tusker’s journey in the Champions League.

“I was not fully ready for the match because I have been nursing an injury. I had only three days to train and I hope I will have a better preparation for the second leg which we want to win and go to Egypt for the second round,” a confident Sakho said.

Sakho, who singled out Boniface Muchiri, Jackson Macharia and Apollo Otieno as “good players” who caused them problems in the match, is a man on a big mission with Solar 7.

“I came here because of the president and Alex Song. They have a very good project for the future of African football. I hope in the near future all the players who play in Europe, before they go to China or somewhere else will come to Africa, just starting with Alex (Song –  a former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder, other players and I,” explained the Senegalese who also played for French side Metz.

Solar 7 is also home to former AS Monaco man Alain Traore, the Burkinabe who scored their lone goal during the encounter, and who played alongside Dennis Oliech at one point in French  Ligue 1.