Gome to feature in Europa League
By Michael Uugwanga
NAMIBIAN midfield kingpin, Wangu ‘Baptista’ Gome is expected to feature for his Armenian outfit Alashkert Yerevan against Macedonian side KF Renova today in the UEFA Europa League preliminary/qualifying first round match in Armenia.
Alaskhkert are in the qualifiers thanks to their third place finish in the Armenian top flight football club that recently ended and the Namibian has been an instrumental figure for his side which he joined earlier this year after months without a club.
The UEFA Europa League is Europe’s second tier football competition, which is below the UEFA Champions League.
The 27-year-old former Rebels, Civics, Bidvest Wits and Platinum Stars player said he is looking forward to be playing in the Europa League club competition, although his team will first need to overcome the Macedonian outfit if he is to realise his dream of playing in the premier Europe club competition.
“I am looking forward to playing in the Europa League which is an opportunity that is well presented to me. Preparations for the match have been going well and we will not be underestimating our opponent even though we have the home advantage in the first leg which will be a good chance to be victorious on home soil.
“We had five days off before we returned to training a few days ago. It is always good to be back in training.
It is positivity all the way from the players and the technical team. We will have to be fully focused on the match.
We will also be taking each game as it comes and every game will be important to us,” Gome said this week.
The man from Rundu is currently enjoying his football in Europe and is already looking forward at making history with Alaskhkert and has managed to play 11 times for the club since moving there in March.
Once his side progresses to the next stage of the qualifiers, they could end up meeting top teams for a place in the proper group stage of the competition.
“I am enjoying my stay here. It has been good for me. Our confidence does not come from who we are playing against but it is from within ourselves and our unity within the group. It will be a great opportunity to face any of the big clubs in the competition,” said Gome.