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But Karisa, who captained the side on the night, insists that Vipers should not be too melancholy, and instead focus on the next five group games.
Milton Karisa has urged his Vipers SC teammates to remain positive and put their horror show against Raja Casablanca behind them and reconnect with the positive progress they have been on recently.
Vipers hosts Guinea's AC Horoya in their second game in group C, at the St. Mary’s Stadium Kitende on Saturday.
The Venoms were thumped 5-0 in their first game of the CAF Champions League in Morocco, after which Karisa admitted the mood in the camp was low following the thrashing.
But Karisa, who captained the side on the night, insists that Vipers should not be too melancholy, and instead focus on the next five group games.
“We lost the first game, yes, it was by a huge margin, but that is part of football, however, we are ready to bounce back tomorrow,” Karisa said ahead of the game.
“We should not let one result define who we are, because we still have five games to play, and if we can maximize results from those games, then we definitely give ourselves a chance of progress.”
“Tomorrow’s game is going to be hard, because of course, we are in the champions league. But we have to be ready for the challenge that we are faced with.”
“Everyone is waiting to see how we respond after the defeat, and looking at the reaction from the players, everyone is willing to die a little for Vipers because we know how good we are.”
The Vipers forward made a passionate plea for the club's supporters to create a special atmosphere at St. Mary’s to aid their charge for victory in what will be their first ever home game in Africa’s premier club competition.
“We are at home and we have to show how good we are, I am just calling on the fans to come out and back us,” he mentioned.
“We want to go out tomorrow (Saturday) and make them proud. I am sure it was hard for them to watch us against Raja, so tomorrow we must make amends and give them something to cheer about.”
“We shall give our fans joy, and I can declare that our champions league campaign starts officially tomorrow,” Karisa continued.
The St. Mary’s Stadium encounter will be the first ever meeting between the two sides in history, and carries significant advantage for either in their quest for reaching the quarter finals.
While Vipers chase victory to replenish hope of progress from the group, victory for Horoya on the other hand provides them a chance to build on their strong start that saw them defeat Tanzania’s Simba SC.
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