Who is at their best all the time?
20 November 2020 | Sports
LIMBA MUPETAMI
WINDHOEK
Brave Warriors interim head coach Bobby Samaria has finally broken his silence about Tuesday night's defeat at the hands of Mali in an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier.
Samaria said he understood that the team did not live up to people's expectations.
“We get that. I believe that I have the ability to hear, listen and understand people's opinions, which mostly highlight mistakes. That is normal.
“As much as we expect our team to be at its best every single match, it is not possible. Who out there is at his or her best every single day?” he asked.
“Now, what went wrong on the night? I will not dwell too much on negatives because it's draining. But in a nutshell, we failed to handle the overloads in midfield and struggled to deal with their midfield pressing, hence we lost the ball too often.”
He added that the Namibians also struggled to contain their combination play in the centre of the field and on the flanks.
“Yes, we changed our system of play in order to be more offensive but the performance had nothing to do with the changed system,” he said.
Moving forward, he said they know which areas to work on in order to improve as individuals and as a team. “Rest assured, we will improve.”
Namibia is currently in third place with three points on Group A's log table. Mali has already qualified, having earned 10 points. Guinea is in second with eight points; Chad is at the bottom with one point. Namibia's remaining two Afcon qualifier matches will be against Guinea and Chad next year.
WINDHOEK
Brave Warriors interim head coach Bobby Samaria has finally broken his silence about Tuesday night's defeat at the hands of Mali in an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier.
Samaria said he understood that the team did not live up to people's expectations.
“We get that. I believe that I have the ability to hear, listen and understand people's opinions, which mostly highlight mistakes. That is normal.
“As much as we expect our team to be at its best every single match, it is not possible. Who out there is at his or her best every single day?” he asked.
“Now, what went wrong on the night? I will not dwell too much on negatives because it's draining. But in a nutshell, we failed to handle the overloads in midfield and struggled to deal with their midfield pressing, hence we lost the ball too often.”
He added that the Namibians also struggled to contain their combination play in the centre of the field and on the flanks.
“Yes, we changed our system of play in order to be more offensive but the performance had nothing to do with the changed system,” he said.
Moving forward, he said they know which areas to work on in order to improve as individuals and as a team. “Rest assured, we will improve.”
Namibia is currently in third place with three points on Group A's log table. Mali has already qualified, having earned 10 points. Guinea is in second with eight points; Chad is at the bottom with one point. Namibia's remaining two Afcon qualifier matches will be against Guinea and Chad next year.
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