Nigeria’s under-23 national team, Olympic Eagles’ coach, Imama Amapakabo has promised that his players will do better in Tuesday’s reverse fixture of their African championship qualifier in Asaba, adding that they have learnt lessons from their 1-0 loss in the first leg, megasportsarena.com reports.
While also affirming that he also learnt a lot from the first leg played last Thursday in Omdurman, Amapakabo revealed that he and his technical crew assistants have already started working on strategies that will help the team player a better organized, coordinated and purposeful game at Stephen Keshi Stadium, where they commenced training on Sunday.
The former youth international goalkeeper, who cut his teeth in coaching at Rangers of Enugu and El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), added that his players now know the importance of link-play in all departments of the game, which he assured they will put into practice during Tuesday’s game.
While further admitting that blending and bonding were among the setbacks they faced during the first leg, as the foreign-based invitees did not have enough time to train with their home-based colleagues, Amapakabo added that the squad will show a better sense of understanding in the upcoming game, which will kick-off at 4pm.
Amapakabo posited: “We want to do better in this game on Tuesday. We have to get it right in terms of responsibility of play, tight in defence and coordination in all areas of the pitch. I take full responsibility of the team, and I want to put everything right for this second match.
“I did not have enough time with the team for the first leg, especially with the foreign-based players, but I believe it will be different this time around.”
