By: Omar Jatta
The Gambia’s national team coach Sang Ndong is optimistic about his team’s prospects in the return leg of the AFCON 2017 qualifying tie against Mauritania despite losing the first of the two legged tie away in Nouakchott last Friday.
Ahead of the return leg this afternoon, the Scorpions coach has expressed high hopes and reassured fans that they will do everything within their means to ensure victory in this afternoon’s game.
Ndong was speaking at a pre-match Press Conference held at the Independence Stadium in Bakau on Monday evening, where he told reporters that his players despite the set back on Friday are in high spirit.
“We will do everything possible to win because we are determined and focus,” he said.
He also admitted there will be a degree of pressure on him and the team despite the call for patience as part of the rebuilding and rebranding process.
“There will always be pressure despite the rebuilding process but we are focus because it is also important to win at home,” Sang told the press. However the former Hawks coach said the team will bridge the gap by bringing back the confidence to the public. On which note he made his appeal to the fans to come out in large numbers and support the team this afternoon against the Mourabitones.
The Scorpions are currently bottom of the group in Group M with only a solitary point to show for the three games played so far in this campaign, and thus the pressure will be on them to at least win this crucial home tie as they look to bridge the gap between them and the top two teams, this afternoon’s opponents Mauritania who are currently in second place with six points and group leaders Cameroon on seven points with only nine points to play for. And that puts the onus on the Scorpion to force the issue for victory.
However, in order to do this, Sang will have to start off with a more attack minded team, to try and score in the earliest possible. Mauritania might play with more caution in this game hence they’re starting from a losing point, whereas the Scorpions on the other hand have nothing to lose. Anything other than a win this evening will effectively kibosh all hopes of making it through to Gabon.
If Sang can get the right balance in the team with the right formation and tactics, Mauritania will find it hard to stop them. May be a 4-1-3-2 formation will do with two playing upfront as oppose to playing a lone striker as in the first leg, in other words a 4-4-2 with a holding midfielder in front of the defence.
Playing with a lone striker is not always the most effective tactics especially if you have to win at all cost, because sometimes the lone striker can be left isolated as we saw with Pa Amat Dibba in the first half in Mauritania. Having said this, they will have to defend better both individually and collectively as a team. It’s no great secret that working hard in defence and breaking quickly works well to mount counter attacks, but the players have to understand better how to play the counter-attacking system by finding the balance between defending and attacking.
On a final note, the mantra that the best form of defence is attack rings relatively, the team just have to be braver when playing, to push for an early goal, as that could be crucial for their confidence. In modern football the psychological element plays a very important part of the game, and the better the team starts, the greater the home support, the greater the home support, the greater the chance to put doubts into the minds of the visitors. If the hosts are not playing well or may be miss two or three chances, the crowd can become tense and the players anxious, and that plays into the hands of the away side. The longer the visitors can stay in the match, the more the home team will try to force the issue, sometimes trying too hard or taking too many risks, and that’s when gaps appear for away sides.
