Africa-Press – Angola. Petro de Luanda and Zamalek of Egypt star today, at 8:00 pm, at the Hassan Mustafa Pavilion, in the city of Cairo, in the third round of the Nile Conference, in the duel of giants between two candidates for the title of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
This is certainly the most awaited challenge in this preliminary phase of access to the play-off of the quarter-finals, scheduled for next May, in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, where the champion of the 2022 edition of the biggest club competition will be announced. continental basketball.
The tricolors prepared in detail the game with the hosts. The aim is to break the hosts’ eight-game unbeaten run, which since last year’s edition has yet to experience the bitter taste of defeat.
To this end, the Brazilian coach José Neto intends to assemble a team capable of maintaining productivity, with the points distributed a little by all the players who are called to enter the court.
At the end of yesterday afternoon, Petro made the last test where he improved the tactical component. Victory is the watchword in the tricolor locker room, as the coach made a point of pointing out last Tuesday when he previewed the match after the victory over Cobra Sport from South Sudan.
The tactical training was preceded by a video session, where the necessary readings were made on the opponent’s movement, for the challenge of later that night. The idea is to create as many difficulties as possible and force the opponent to make mistakes.
To this end, Neto asked that there is greater communication between the players of his team, because a victory over Zamalek would put an end to the bitterness registered in the last edition.
On the other hand, the tricolor coach spoke to the players about the importance of keeping the focus on tonight’s game, and facing it as if it were a final.
The fact that the Egyptian squad was renewed, around 35 percent, draws José Neto’s attention. In addition to new players, the 2021 BAL champion has signed former US national coach William Voigt.
On the other hand, the discourse does not differ: keeping the team on the path of victories is the keyword in the hosts of the Egyptians. Although they are playing at home, the presence of the fans has been somewhat timid, with many clearings in the stands, contrary to what was expected.
In the first match of the day, Cobra Sport from South Sudan and Cape Town Tigers from South Africa will face off at 18:00 at the Hassam Mustafa Pavilion in Cairo, in a match in which the Tigers will seek their first victory in the Nile Conference of Basketball Africa League (BAL).
The team coming from the southernmost country on the continent still believes in the much-desired qualification but, for that, they will have, above all, to face the determination of the Sudanese, who gained some breath thanks to the victory in the previous round.
The South African tigers managed to show their sharp claws against Petro de Luanda, in the game that marked the debut in this format of the competition, but lacked the consistency denoted in the first half.
The matches that followed were a copy of the inaugural challenge. It remains to be seen whether today we will witness the resurgence of tigers from the South African savannahs.
Cobra Sport maintains intact its aspirations of qualifying for the play-off of the BAL quarter-finals, as a result of the victory, by 108-82, on Wednesday night, over Espoir Fukash of the DRC, in a challenge related to the third day of the Nile Conference, which takes place in the capital of Egypt.
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