Revenge is on Gor Mahia's mind when they take on USM Alger in the first round of the CAF Champions League mid next month.
Both teams comfortably reached the knockout phase with one-sided victories over Black Eagles (Burundi) and Sonidep (Niger). Gor thrashed Aigle Noir 5-1 on aggregate while USM were 5-2 victors over two legs against their opponents from Niger.
Now with a place in the group stages of the Champion League at stake, Gor will be out to make amends against the team that knocked them out of the CAF Confederations Cup in 2018.
“It's not about revenge as many people would like to believe. But it is about the ambitions we have as a team. We have done well on the continental front over the last couple of years and it's our objective to do even better in the Champions League, the most important club competition on the continent,” said Gor forward Boniface Omondi, who was among the scorers in K'Ogalo’s emphatic victory over the weekend.
In what will be further good news for Steven Polack’s men, two of their new signings Ghanaian striker Francis Afriyie and Ivorian Gnamien Yikpei will all be available for selection in the next round after missing out in the preliminaries due to late registration.
“It’s a big boost for us and for the coach to have different players available for selection. It makes our build-up for the matches even more intense as everyone is fighting to be in the squad," added the diminutive Omondi, a two-time league winner with K'Ogalo.
"The new players have shown in training and in our match against Bandari in the Super Cup, that they have the quality to succeed here and hopefully they will help us achieve our objectives for the season."
In 2018, USM held Gor to a goalless draw in the first leg in Nairobi before beating them 2-1 in the return leg fixture to eliminate the Kenyans in the group stages of the CAF Confederations Cup.
