Oktay: I don’t know anything about our opponents

Gor Mahia coach Hassan Oktay has confessed knowing nothing about their 2018/19 Confederation of African Football (Caf) Confederation Cup quarterfinal opponents Renaissance Sportive de Berkane from Morocco.

Gor – who finished second in Group “D” with nine points- were drawn against the Moroccan top tier side in the draw conducted yesterday at the Marriot Hotel in Cairo, Egypt by former Egyptian star Emad Moteab and Cameroonian legend Patrick “Magic” Mboma.

Gor will host the North Africans – who finished top of Group A with 11 points on April 7- and the reverse fixture away on April 14.

The semi-finals of this second-tier club championship will be played on April 28 and May 5, while the two-leg finals on May 19 and May 26.

“Do you know their best players?” the Turkish-Cypriot posed in reaction to the draw in a phone interview with Nation Sport.

“Now I’ve a lot of homework to do; research about their strengths and weaknesses, what kind of formation they play, who they are. As you know, Kenya has no enough technology to help me do this, either way, we've to know how to punish them,” added the 42-year-old who will miss five key players in the first leg at home due to suspension.

Captain Harun Shakava leads the quintet having picked his second consecutive yellow card in the 1-0 win against Petro Atletico last Sunday at Kasarani stadium alongside midfielder Ernest Wendo and left back Shaffik Batambuze - the latter two were red carded on the day.

Goalkeeper Peter Odhiambo and lead striker Jacques Tuyisenge will also miss the next match after picking two subsequent yellow cards.

K’Ogalo has struggled to register positive results in the Northern African country. They recently fell 1-0 and 4-0 to Hussein Dey (Algeria) and Zamalek (Egypt) in the group stage.

Last season, they went down by a solitary goal in the return leg of the Caf Champions league first round against Tunisian giants Esperence after battling to a goalless draw in Nairobi.

Can Gor upset the Arabs this time round?

“Africa is Africa, I don’t care which side of the continent we head to at this stage of the competition,” a courageous Oktay said.

“What’s important is strategize on how to get a good result,” he concluded.

The winner of the competition takes home a cool Sh125 million and runners up Sh63 million while semi finalists take home Sh45 million.

Gor have already assured themselves of Sh38 million for reaching the last eight.

Who are RS Berkane?

The team was founded in 1938 and host their home matches at 18,000-capacity Berkane Municipal stadium.

This was their first time in continental football after winning their only cup in club history - the Moroccan Throne Cup last year.

-Coached by Moroccan Mounir Jaouani, they are ranked ninth on the 16-team 2018/19 Moroccan top flight log with 27 points from 21 rounds.

FULL CAF CONFED DRAW

Nkana (Zambia) v CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)

Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) v Al Hilal (Sudan)

Hassania Agadir (Morocco) v Zamalek (Egypt)

Gor Mahia v RS Berkane (Morocco)