SUDAN’S home-based national team head coach Kwesi Appiah has admitted that he did not expect his side to be so comfortable against Nigeria’s Super Eagles B in their African Nations Championship (CHAN) clash yesterday.
Appiah’s side swept aside the Nigerians 4-0 in Zanzibar to end the Super Eagles B’s hopes of advancing to the knockout rounds of the tournament, leaving his counterpart Eric Chelle moaning about his team’s disastrous outing.
“I was surprised with the performance of some of my players. If you noticed, my changes came deep into the second half because everyone was playing really well,” Appiah, who has served as head coach of his home country Ghana, said during his post-match interview.
“We knew it was going to be tough, especially the first 20 minutes. Our tactical play was to absorb pressure and hit them on the counter.
“I wasn’t expecting the scoreline, but I knew if we play our best, we could defeat Nigeria.”
Despite the emphatic scoreline that left Nigeria humiliated, Appiah was gracious towards Chelle.
“I think the home-based Super Eagles aren’t that bad. On the whole, tactically, they played well,” he noted.
“The coach only needs to do some polishing with the attack. The first game against Senegal wasn’t that bad; in the second game, they had stints of possession, but our approach helped us.”
Leonard Ngenge had a nightmarish evening, scoring an own goal and giving away a penalty in the first half, while Omer Yagoub completed the embarrassing rout with a superb brace after the break.
Chelle could not hide his despair as he spoke after the excruciating experience.
“We have lost all ambition. The CHAN is over for us. We have a third match to play for our honour and respect,” the former Mali head coach said.
“But I am disappointed by this match. It is the worst game I’ve overseen from the dugout as coach.”
Looking ahead to the Super Eagles B’s final group game against Congo, Chelle warned: “If we play this way against Congo, it wouldn’t be just four. We have to clear our minds and mentally get ready for Congo.
“Though some important players left our preparations camp, these were the best players in our league. We can’t play a game like that and lose in the manner we did. We need to be more focused.
“The players focused in the first 20 minutes. Our goal was ruled out, and afterwards, we made a lot of mistakes… four mistakes, four goals.
“Our training session before the game went well. We analyzed Sudan’s team. We prepared well, but were not ready for as many mistakes.”