Maqonda Ndlovu
Brave Gladiators coach Paulus Shipanga says a lack of concentration cost his side the first leg of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying round at the Accra Sports Stadium last Friday.
The Brave Gladiators lost the match 3-1.
Speaking to New Era Sport from South Africa, where the team is preparing for the second leg, which will take place today at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, Shipanga said the three goals conceded by the Gladiators were caused by mistakes by the Namibian players. “Preparations went well. We arrived in Johannesburg in the early hours of Sunday morning. We have held a couple of training sessions, and we will have one more today (Monday). There is positivity all over the place; there is nothing to worry about. We were not outplayed or outmuscled,” Shipanga said. He added that the defeat was demoralising for the team, and said maybe his absence from the bench could have contributed to the loss.
The former Brave Warriors winger said the plan is to score as early as possible to unsettle Ghana and make sure the girls play on the front foot. He said having scored a goal in Ghana will give them confidence going into the match, as the away goal rule is in play for the qualifiers.
“They are a very good team tactically; they have individual players who are also good. They play with two central defensive midfielders and two good wingers. They have the experience, and their coach is partly experienced. We created chances, but we were not clinical,” Shipanga said.
The former FC Ongos coach will sit out his second of the four games due to suspension after he remonstrated with match officials in Morocco last month said that they will use ‘home ground’ advantage to win. “This match will be more of a mental
game more than the game itself.
If the players are mentally focused, then we are good to win it. We only have Ivonne Kooper, who suffered a concussion in the first leg; hence, she will not play this game. She has not trained with us,” Shipanga explained.
In the first leg, Ghana scored through a double by Doris Boaduwaa and a goal by captain Portia Boakye.
Boakye went on to concede an own goal late in the game to give Namibia hope.