Iranian Coach, Ali Doustimehr wanted a victory against Columbia, who played free flowing football to the delight of the fans in Calabar centre, but the rains washed away his preparation which was focused on a complete attacking formation and fast breaks, reports Sammy Etuk
Doustimehr told africansportsdigest.com that he never anticipated that the soggy rains would strike, hence there were no preparations for such condition as they witnessed in the match.
“Players at this stage of the competition have not had a game break for more than an hour as we witnessed in the match. I needed to calm them down while ensuring that their concentration on the assignment at hand was not wavering. It was a difficult task, but I was happy they didn’t disappoint,” said the coach.
‘We were actually gunni9ng for victory but I know the weather conditions really affected the match. I will prepare for such situations now no matter what having had the experience. Didn’t have such plan before because no one thought of that mishap.”
The coach concluded that the draw did not benefit his team or their opponents, the Columbians, but Gambia which have not won a single match in the group.
“It’s Gambia that benefitted immensely from the draw. They now have a chance of qualifying if they can win their last game. I had prepared my players for a great game against Gambia. I wanted to overworked them knowing that they are a ball playing side, who likes to hang onto the ball, and then eclipsed them in the second half and score goals.”