El Merreikh in Atraco’s way

•Rwandan side in final on first time of asking Today Play-off Mathare Utd v TP Mazembe 4.30pm Final Atraco FC v El Merreikh 7.30pm KHARTOUM, SUDAN - They were considered underdogs, but Sam Timbe’s Atraco troops who walk onto the pitch this evening for the Kagame Club Championship final against El Merreikh should be proud before they even kick a ball. As their coach Timbe tries to rewrite history and win the Kagame Cup with three different clubs, his team will also be glad that at their first attempt they can reached this far. After beating KCC FC in the quarter finals and leaving it late in their 2-1 semi-final win against Mathare United, Sam Timbe’s Atraco can not be taken so lightly, but they will come against an El Merreikh side that has kept a 100 percent record and will be backed by over 35,000 fans including the head of Field Marshal Omar Al-Bashir. “Winning this final will give us the best rhythm and morale to push on in our Champions league game next weekend, said El Merreikh’s Croatian coach Radan Jacket. The Nigerian trio of Endorance Idahor (five goals), Klechi Osunwa (three goals) and Steven Worgu (one goal) are expected to lead the home side as they attempt to snatch the trophy the team last won in 1994. But Timbe has also said nothing would be as good as taking the trophy back to Rwanda. “It would be a perfect reward to Rwanda football if we won that game. But we need to fight first,” said Timbe Atraco’s leading scorers at the tournament Hamis Kitagenda, Andrew Lomami, Alimansi Kadogo and Aloua Gaseruka who have been outstanding are expected to lead Atraco. But before the final, guest side TP Mazembe will face Francis Kimanzi’s Mathare United. The winner takes home $50,000, while the runner-up bags $30,000, and the third placed $20,000. If Timbe succeeds in Khartoum, he will become only the second coach to win the regional club championship with a Rwandan team on foreign soil after Raoul Shungu, who led Rayon Sport to the title in 1998 in Mwanza. Ends