Who are RS Berkane
In its illustrious history, Gor Mahia has played against three teams from Egypt, one from Tunisia, one from Libya and two from Algeria. But never has Gor Mahia faced off with a Moroccan side. The clash with RC Berkane on April 28 will be the first.
Renaissance Sportive de Berkane was formed in 1938 and is based in the city of Berkane in Northeastern Morocco. They have been one of the revelations in the 2018-2019 CAF Confederations cup. They qualified for the CAF cup by virtue of winning the 2018 Moroccan cup.
They don’t have much of a history in African competition or even in the Moroccan league where they were promoted back to the top flight in 2012.
But their form in continental competition has been excellent. They have been very solid at home: In the opening round, they recorded wins of 3-0 against Al Ittihad of Libya and then a 5-1 win over AS Diaraf of Senegal
In the group stage, they topped a group that had two more illustrious teams from Morocco: Hassania Agadir and current defending champions Raja Casablanca. AS Otoho of Congo-Brazzavile was the other team in the group. Berkane were impressive, collecting eleven points and assuring top spot in the group with one game left. Most impressive were their 4-2 win over defending champions Raja Casablanca and the 3-0 win over AS Otoho.
Their domestic form on the other hand is poor. They are currently in 9th place in the Moroccan league standings, well behind league leaders Wydad Casablanca. Last season they were 9th at the end of the season while in the season before that, they finished fourth.
Their most dangerous threat is Togolese striker Kodjo Laba who has scored 5 goals in the competition including a double against Raja Casablanca. Laba has also played 23 times for the Togolese national team, finding the back of the net 11 times.
The other dangerman to watch is midfielder Alain Traore. The 30 year old Burkinabe international spent a lot of his younger years in France, playing for Auxerre, Lorient and Monaco. He also spent a season in Turkey playing for Kayserispor followed by a season at top Qatari side Al Markiya.
RC Berkane have no players in the Morocco national team which is comprised largely of French, Belgian and Dutch players of Moroccans descent. The CHAN cup is reserved for home based players. In the 2018 Morocco squad, there was one RC Berkane player (Ayub al Kaabi). He has since left the club to go play in China.
Whereas Gor Mahia has historically recorded below par results against North African sides, there recent form is encouraging. Last year Kogalo forced a draw at home against eventual Africa champions Esperance and lost the second goal by an unlucky goal. And this season they scored wins over Algerian and Egyptian sides
Africa is Africa.. Bring on them..
This year we must remove our N Africa syndrome.Lets hope the important return leg with full house will give better results,Assuming we take care of things minus Tuyisenge in Nrb
I have this sneaky feeling that the Moroccan referee was an advance scheme for this game, so we shall play them at home minus five key players, then they fix us away, uuuwi yawa, but with proper preparations anything is possible
Gor will surprise you when you least expect.
With proper preparations,which should begin in earnest,I don’t see why we shouldn’t beat them.
Even minus five key players we can.Manchester United did it away versus PSG…so,why not?Anything is possible in football!
From the moment the draw was made , RS Berkane immediately retreated to their data centre to review tens of tons of data involving Gor Mahia , because , its taken for granted at this level , that talks of lack of knowledge of opponents is nothing but a confirmation of how 18th century you are in the 21st century .
The moment you confront an opponent who has done extensive research on you while you on the other hand come with pre meditated excuses is not only pathetic but krimino.
Apart from that , there is nothing , absolutely nothing about this RS Berkane that should make us lose any sleep , apart from the in advance seriousness they have attached to this tournament even to the extent of sacrificing their local league .
This is a very winnable round and there is absolutely no reason why we should think or believe otherwise , because , afterall didnt we not qualify from a group people with weak beliefs described as Impossibly terrifying and didnt we against those weak beliefs not register wins against the so called mythically unbeatable Northerners .
We are taking this thing .
Teddy please educate me on this technology thing. Apparently, this technology or lack of, applies and affects us adversely only when we play away. However, when we play at home, when totally green about our opponents, we still go ahead and win, at times with very comfortable margins, lack of technology not withstanding. Educate me my brother because learning has no end.
Owadwa barefoot bandit these are computerized technologies that zero on a teams pattern, rhythms, and players personal work rate and style of play. In short minus a human input and interpretation this gimmick is useless.This is probably what Zamalek used against us to dismantle us. All this are mind games, had our TB been upto task they would have adjusted strategically. So videos and watching match replays still are a perfect match analysis.There are no robots playing in the field. It is the human in put, the TB that should be up to task at hand- make adequate substitution, change players rhythms as required to disorient the opponents. Jasego, Jasego Yoo. Kazi kwako.
Let’s not loose sleep with computer games. Many uru system to hammer this people 4-0 in Kasarani. Hata kama in Jowi Jowi soccer
So if someone is using technology to review your weakness, why not improve on your weakness first? And not to review the opponents strategy /weakness from your weak point.
Unless, you tell us that once they review the opponents weakness, they will programme all their players and hard code our weakness and we cannot improve whatever we do.
Give us fan Technology kit – we are fans.
@BB, Technology does not work minus the personel to effect it , but a team that has that combination has a lot of advantages over a team that has one and not the other .
Secondly , there is a general low opinion in the West and North Africa about teams from the East and it is based on these madharau ndogo ndogos that you would notice a discernible similarities in Gor and Simba home matches vis a vis there opponents in the group stages and the reverse disasters in away matches .
Just to use Boxing as an example of technology , it would be disadvantageous going into a fight without knowing your opponents South paw , Upper cut , stamina , temperement , e.g Fighters discovered that the best way to avoid being knocked out by Tyson was to avoid engaging him in close combat in the opening rounds , but to stay as far as legally permissible and watch his frustrations as the rounds kept turning .
In short , basically its just intelligence on opponents , just like NIS may have intel on terrorist by tapping their phones , infiltrating their ranks , hacking their systems etc .
In the group stages , some opponents may have taken as for granted but from now going fwd , we are marked men and its gonna be tough for us even at home because
everybody will take us very seriously .
But on another note , one possible explanation why inspite of no technology , we are still around , could be that the potency of the spirit of Gor Mahia is not a myth but a reality.
But we need and must invest in Technology , Spying as we use it is so so 2centuries ago
WE ARE TAKING THIS THING .
Gor Mahia coach Hassan Oktay can easily get videos of RS Berkane matches. Let us come up with another excuse.
The RS Berkane owner is also the Moroccan FA President and a CAF ExCo Member and a close associate of the CAF president Ahmad Ahmad.
You don’t have to own modern technology to access it.these days there are ways and means of accessing it.it is the digital age,nobody can be that behind surely!
Aside from that,we just need to plan well on and off the field sooner rather than later.I hope a few days to the game we will not be bombarded with all sorts of excuses on how we are not prepared to face our opponents!!
Watching Soccer Africa they acknowledge RS Berkane ni timu ya mkubwa. These guys will look for anything possible for away win and a favourable result in Kasarani .
The kind of positive media and hype the progression of Gor Mahia to the CafCc quarters has attracted is the type that if properly harnessed by a savvy EC would be a Goldmine in terms of attracting sponsorships and endorsements .
Its at such moments when the EC needs to be awoken from the slumber of contentment and be reminded that its them who from time without number , embarrasingly unleash the begging bowl to plead for amounts that the Gor brand can generate with just a little bit of more creativity and innovation.
To give a local example of what branding , creativity and innovation can do , Take a look at two football fans 1.Jaro Soja 001 , CIC KDF , EGH , HFC , OGS of Gor Mahia 2.Wafula of Afc Leopards with his permanent coloured sisal reeds .
Gor Mahia EC is the Wafula-ism type , where there seems to be movement yet it is a movement ocassioned by spinning on the same spot from one year to the next .
Management is much more than just receiving and forwarding salaries and bonuses and then operating empty bank accounts til the next salary to be forwarded comes in .
We are now above the local management standards and it must be upgraded to reflect continental best practices if our conquests are to be sustainable.
But all in all , We are taking this thing , this year .
*2. Isaac Juma NOT Wafula ,
You right Teddy but these fellows can’t do that because they are not 100% committed to the club, they are busy chasing there personal endeavours
* their
With proper preparations we can win this game, our fans only need to know that football is not so that easy to play, don’t pressurize our players for nothing, lets support the technical bench, am surprised that others can see that we have a good coach but our know it all fans are too blind to see that ,we cant be all coaches the way we want to be
@Joseph Odongo , I wish to disagree with you on this issue of the Coach .
Having an opinion on the coach is not synonymous with not supporting the coach , secondly it is said that a good idea can always give way to a better idea and IMO , so far the good idea about Oktay is that he has reached as this far , the better idea would be to upgrade the positive results with some relatable football phylosophy , a phylosophy that is easy on the eye and where the ball doesnt spend 80% of its time up in the air or with the opponents .
Lastly this issue that there are some opposing International teams that have seen how good Oktay is , is a FLAT LIE.
As we progress in CAF we should all be aware that the profile of some of our players is rising. This means that there will soon be suitors to separate them from us. Football-wise there is nothing wrong with a player going for greener pastures especially if financially it’s good for the player. Examples abound: Mieno went to St George, Gor played and here we are in the CAF quarters. It means that as players leave some good ones with be unveiled. We had BB, then Sserenkuma, then Olunga then Kagere then Jausenge.
What i am saying is that if Jausenge leaves because he feels it’s time to move on let’s wish him all the best and bless the move. It will also be good for our club’s name
Mambo ya coach kuanza kupenda na ma slay queen wa kenya hatukaki,,,, these will prevent him from loosing focus wid our up coming games especially in de caf. When it comes to Jausenge let the guy choose by himself of whether to renew his contract in gormahia team or leave coz we wish him all the best in his new assignment
@Dan Original , what you have said is a cold fact , infact in the whole world , there are probably only 3clubs with the capacity to buy whoever they want and to also retain whoever they have , the rest including Gor have no chance at all when the big boys come calling .
My only heartache is that , some of the teams we are losing players to e.g Simba , Zesco , Nkana etc are by all accounts supposed to be junior to Gor Mahia , it reminds me of the broken record I always hear of Kenya being at per with S.Korea and Singapore in the 60’S.
So Yes , the better our
Players perform , the more we are likely to lose them and that’s been my beef when I say that the work of the EC must go beyond the bare basics in the Maslow’s hierachy of needs , we have overstayed at the bottom of the pyramid and very soon , at the rate other federations like Rwanda , Burundi are upgrading their game , we will remain with only Somalia and Dgibouti as our only recruiting countries , but more importantly , to get Gor to the level it was e.g in 1979 or 1987 , we must do now , what we used to do them , go to Nyanza and get talent from there , then top it up with one or two from elsewhere and its on this basis that I once recommended that Gor Mahia Youth team should immediately be shafted to Kisumu to be where the granary is .
What we are doing now is cutting out the best locally and replacing them with talent from out that are less talented .
Like surely , nobody can ever convince me that Mustapha , Ssesikambu , Guikan are better than what we are wasting away locally , Infact a confident and slightly more trusted Geoffrey Ochieng is better than Batambuze .
But any player , just like any worker , who gets greener pastures
Must be allowed to go as long as the management doesnt consider it disruptive if he is still under contract .But gimme 20million for Tuisenge in June and I will take it .