West Afr icans ar e ar r ogant on the ball
On beating Diables Noir s in the CAF Confed Cup
This past weekend, we played a tough game against Diables Noirs (from Congo Brazzaville) in the CAF Confederation Cup and you must remember that they also lost their first match against Stade Malien. They came to South Africa for a win and gave us a tough time. In the end, we won the match 2-1, even though we could have beaten them by a bigger margin. We were too much to handle for them because we also wanted to win as well coming from a loss in Morocco against RS Berkane. Our boys wanted nothing other than three points. Our game plan was to attack them from the start so that we could unsettle them and that is why we started with a lot of pacy players upfront. We had Elias Mokwana, Kamohelo Sithole and Tashreeq Morris because we wanted to start on a high and it paid off. But they scored first when our goalkeeper (Badra Ali Sangare) was caught on the D-line and the ball went in. Immediately after that, we gave them nothing and we were just on top of them creating chances. We ended up scoring the second goal and missed more chances. But the game plan was to start the match on the front foot and have a go at them. When they scored the first goal, we were not even concerned because they were not really in the game – it’s just that they caught our goalkeeper outside the box and chipped the ball into the back of the net. Other than that, we were all over them because we didn’t want them to settle down. Daniel Cardoso scored a beautiful winner and he scores a lot of those goals at training and friendly games. He practises a lot and is dedicated to shooting. Daniel packs a powerful shot and he knew that one that he will score it and that was a beautiful goal from outside the box. If you look at all our defenders, Nyiko Mobbie, Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya and Cardoso are all capable of attacking and scoring goals because we are a very offensive side. Even Edwin Gyimah scores a lot. When we attack, our wingbacks help us with overloading the midfield.
On the beginning of the tour nament
We started the competition with the match against Saint Eloi Lupopo from DR Congo and won 4-2 on aggregate. The home leg, which we won 3-1, was more like the match we played against Diables Noirs. Lupopo have a lot of international players and when they came here, they were more arrogant on the ball, they wanted to play. They are a typical Congolese team; they wanted to play and have ball possession. But we didn’t want to give them a chance because we knew that when we went outside for the second leg, they were going to make it tough for us. We had to get a result in the first leg and be more offensive at home and try to unsettle them. We could have beaten them by a six- or seven-goal margin. When we went away for the second leg, the astroturf pitch made it harder for us and the weather was too hot – I think it was 40 degrees Celsius. That is why we had to make sure that we got the result at home. Lupopo is the fourth-biggest club in DRC after TP Mazembe, Motema Pembe and AS Vita Club. We expected a tough match and we knew that they have a lot of international players like Patau Kabangu, Emmanuel Bola Lobota and Simon Ommosola. We knew that they have players who are capable of turning things around. They were too much for us, they were on top of us in Kinshasa and fortunately we got a draw and managed to advance to the group stage. The first match of the group stage was against RS Berkane, also a big club in Morocco. But we could have won that as well – we were creating chances and were always in the final third of the field. Now my biggest concern is that our players might undermine them when they come here for the return leg because we played well in Morocco. But their Burkina Faso international, Issoufou Dayo, and Senegalese Mamadou Camara gave us hard time on set-pieces. Even though we lost 2-0 , I still believe that we were the better side. They also had a very good defensive block of two central midfielders and two centre-backs. They were better organised. We couldn’t penetrate them that much, but when we created one-versus-one situations on the sides, we were better. We could bypass their first and second line, but the defensive block was hard to beat. You could see that they have been playing together for a very long time. Their field is also compact and they know how to use that field. They force you to go wide all the time. If you compare Moroccans to West Africans,
West Africans are arrogant on the ball and North Africans are more organised, tactically good and know what to do. Morocco is closer to European countries like Spain and Portugal and that is where their football influence comes from. Those clubs are better organised, but they also recognise the fact that Southern African teams are technically better. In West Africa, you must also expect hostile environment when you travel to them.
On PSL teams being better than Afr ican leagues
It’s also difficult for those teams to play against DStv Premiership sides. Even Supersport United were on top of USM Alger, but it’s just that those guys were more clinical than them. Our teams are stronger and when they know what to expect, they give us that respect. In other African countries, there are three to four good teams in an 18-club league. In the DStv Premiership, you have 16 good teams who are capable of beating any team. Our boys are used to tougher competitions. In Egypt, you have Al Ahly, Zamalek and Ismaily; in Morocco, there is Wydad Casablanca, RS Berkane and Rabat, and in Tunisia and Algeria it’s the same. Our league is stronger and that is why you have TS Galaxy and Stellenbosch FC in the Carling Knockout final. The coaching in this league is on another level, we are a little bit advanced.
On the way for war d for Sekhukhune
Between now and the end of the year, we have two Confederation Cup matches against Stade Malien and league matches. But we have to find a balance between our performance in the league and the Confederation
Cup. We can’t be doing well in continental football and then struggling on the domestic front. We must get points in the league and now I know that it’s going to be tough. We need to take it one game at a time. But we will try our best. Fortunately, we have one of the best medical teams in Africa and our conditioning coach is also good. We take good care of our players; we don’t have a problem with injuries. We don’t suffer from fatigue and injuries. Our analysis department is also on another level, we know everything about our opponents way ahead. Football, as we know, has changed a lot in the last few years. You can’t go to matches without knowing anything about your opponents, you have to know everything and that is not easy. Personally, I can never be an analyst because it’s a specialised job. Sometimes we spend two-three full days analysing and seeing if there are trends that we can change in our game. We’ve already done our homework against this weekend’s opponents, Stade Malien. We have to beat them in order to put ourselves in a better position to qualify for the knockout stages. Stade Malien is one of the biggest teams in Mali alongside AS Bamako. Malien are very arrogant and if we win on Sunday, we will stand a chance of going to the quarterfinals. We already have enough information because the two games are going to be the decider. In the league, we have two important home games against Stellenbosch and Kaizer Chiefs, and AmaZulu FC in KZN will also be another challenge. Every team wants to go to the Afcon break on a safe side. But we will try our best, we have a squad that is capable of achieving greater things.