Adelino Julio Baptista, the head coach of relegation-threatened Citizens FC, has refused to get carried away with his side’s newly-discovered resurgence, which saw them beating both Tura Magic and Unam over the weekend to collect maximum points.
Citizens, who had gone for almost 21 games without a win, finally broke the curse when they defeated Tura Magic 2-1 on Saturday before improving on that good run with a 2-0 win over Unam in Sunday’s Debmarine Namibia Premiership action. Despite the weekend’s two morale-boosting wins, Baptista insists that they are taking it one match at a time.
“I don’t want to think about relegation and all those other things, but would rather focus on collecting points in every match that we play and positively move on in that direction. We have a total of seven matches left, and it would be great to get maximum points in all those games. Thinking about it will just put me under so much pressure, which I don’t want,” he said. Baptista expressed satisfaction after his team’s first two wins in the Debmarine Premiership, saying he wants to keep the momentum going. He attributes their recent performance to dedication, hard work, and motivating the players to believe in themselves.
“There is no secret to our recent performance. It’s all about dedication and hard work. I also motivate the players to believe in themselves. Most of the players we have come from the First Division or the social leagues, and the only way to get them to work hard is by telling them how good they are and motivating them,” he said.
In other Sunday results, Blue Waters continued their impressive run with a 4-0 win over Young Brazilians, while Mighty Gunners collected maximum points at home after beating Julinho Sporting 3-0.
Orlando Pirates fell short to Young African via a 1-4 scoreline, while Tigers and Black Africa played to a goalless draw. Log leaders African Stars returned to winning ways by beating Eleven Arrows 3-0.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na