Black Galaxies coach Annor Walker believes that losing the first match of a tournament is not unprecedented in football.
Walker was speaking after his side’s shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Madagascar in their opening match of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) at the Chahid Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine on Sunday.
Goals from Madagascar, courtesy of Solomampionona Razafindranaivo and Olivier Randriatsiferana and a consolation by Augustine Agyapong meant the two-time CHAN finalists open their campaign with a disappointing defeat, which the coach said can be rectified moving forward.
“I think my boys disappointed me in the first half and I take it as one of those things that happen in football. We were well prepared for this game, but minor mistakes cost us the game,” said a dejected Walker.
“Such things happen in football. It happens in competitions where big teams lose their opening games. We may have lost but we are certainly not out of the competition yet.
Asked on where he thinks his side would need to improve, the coach said he still needs to analyse the game with his technical team to properly assess where things may have gone wrong in their shocking defeat.
“Madagascar played well in the first half, but we also did not have our usual rhythm. Apart from that, I did not see anything different from them. They were possessing the ball quite well, but I believe we could have done better ourselves and these are the things we will need to look at and remedy ahead of our next match on Thursday. I still need to analyse the game and make a proper judgement on where exactly we went wrong and how it needs to be fixed,” concluded the coach.
Black Galaxies take on Sudan on Thursday at the same venue, where they will be hoping to redeem themselves and get a result to remain in contention for a knock-out place.
Source: Cafonline.com
