Ngomane wary of Warriors
Ngomane wary of Warriors
Posted: 2009-10-27 15:10
Amabinneplaas are just two matches away from defending the Cosafa Senior Challenge title, but they are not even thinking about that.
The team is focusing on the upcoming semifinal clash against hosts Zimbabwe in Harare tomorrow.
The South African National Development team qualified for the tournament’s last four defeating Angola 2-0 on Tuesday.
“It was a tough match but we were well prepared to bring the team to a competitive level. We had to push our players when it seemed they were ready to give up after fighting too hard.
“We are proud of the players and they should be proud too, it was a team effort,” said Simon Ngomane, one of the joint coaches of the side.
Ngomane adds that it was a very physical match which has left several players with knocks, but the technical team remains hopeful that the medical department will revive the concerned players ahead of the crucial clash against Zimbabwe.
The team will also have a light training session this afternoon to help some players to recover as they will need everyone on board to face the home side that defeated Botswana in the last eight.
“Playing the hosts is tough because of the crowd, but also Zimbabwe is a tough side. Even though they were not tested against Botswana they showed they have depth in midfield and their strikers could be deadly.
“We have to apply pressure from the start; they are good but not unbeatable. I am comfortable that we will come with a plan to offset their plans,” Ngomane adds.
As the defending champions of the tournament, the South Africans are aware they can lift the trophy once again, but they are taking one match at a time.
“We have indicated that our policy is one match at a time, we want maximum focus on each match that we are playing.
“We started with Angola in the quarterfinals, now what is important is that we need to continue working as hard as we can and not put ourselves under pressure thinking of the Final and winning the trophy – we want to deal with this upcoming match and move on to the next assignment,” warned Ngomane.
Zambia and Mozambique contest the second semifinal.
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