Chad coach warns battle still on

Despite going down 0-2 to the Flames in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations second preliminary round first leg on Saturday, Chad coach Emmanuel Trigoat refused to fly the white flag, insisting the battle is far from over.

He said while the Flames will carry a two-goal lead into the second leg, he finds comfort in that his team has never lost to Malawi at home.

“So, it is not finished, we can also win 2-0 at home, but Malawi have an advantage. They are also a good team. We will plan for them properly,” he said.

His Malawian counterpart, Young Chimodzi, and captain Moses Chavula also said it will be suicidal for the Flames to toy around with the idea that it is over and done with.

“We have always found it tough playing Chad at their backyard. We need to exercise caution,” said Chimodzi.

The Flames mentor admitted that coordination remains a problem.

“Compared to the way we started, there is a slight improvement, but there is still a problem of coordination, especially in midfield and we will work on the areas that we slackened,” he said.

Soccer commentator Charles Nyirenda also noted that coordination was a problem.

“Individually, you could see that our boys were good, but there was a clear lack of cohension.

“However, it is goals that matter in football and Gabadinho is proving to be the solution to our weakest link that was a ruthless finisher and that’s what made the difference,” said Nyirenda.

Veteran coach Yasin Osman said the defence was fairly solid and steady. He singled out Harry Nyirenda and strikers Gabadinho and Atusaye Nyondo as having meshed well. However, Osman observed that there was no pattern in Flames’ play.

“I would say we need to polish the midfield because it appeared to be our weakest link and as a result, we failed to string four to five passes; otherwise, well done to the boys. It is good having a two-goal advantage,” said Osman.