Head coach of the Black Satellites, Mas Ud Dramani, has revealed that the climate and defensive lapses were behind the team’s 2-1 loss in Ethiopia on Sunday.
The match was the first leg of the African Youth Championship second round qualifier and the Black Satellites needed a good result ahead of the second leg. However, they conceded two goals in the first 20 minutes of the first half.
Jonathan Osabutey scored late in the second half to give the Black Satellites a straightforward duty of winning by at least a goal in the second leg. After the match, Dramani said that bad choices of defensive judgement and the weather led to the result.
“I think it was a difficult match but the challenge was not tactical or technical. The problem we had was with the weather. We tried to manage the situation and we tried to strategise to help us conserve energy (due to the high altitude). Unfortunately, we committed errors.
“We gave the ball away in our defensive third and that is something you pay for in football. We had to play against the wind and we struggled all game but it was not new to me.
I came to play at the same venue with the Princesses and we experienced the wind too. In that match, we defended the end that was against the wind and on Sunday with the Satellites, we were at the same end. I told the players to be careful but we conceded.”
The Satellites will arrive later today to get ready for the second leg on June 12. Should the team progress, they will get to the final round of the qualifiers. The 2017 African Youth Championships will be played in Zambia.
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By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana