NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 11 – New Gor Mahia head coach Leo Neiva says he picked lots of positives despite his side’s 1-0 defeat to Zambia’s Red Arrows in their opening group match at the CECAFA Kagame Cup on Wednesday night.
James Chamanga’s second half close range finish proved to be the decider for the Zambian side, the goal handing them a slim 1-0 victory at the Azam Complex in Chamazi.
Being his first match in charge, Neiva said he believes the team has so much room to improve and things will get better once the players grasp his methods and ideas.
“I am very satisfied with the character, the behavior and attitude of the players. They are fighters. We should improve a lot in terms of ball possession, the short passes, movements without the ball and penetration passes,” the coach said after the game.
Needs more time with the team
Neiva was recently named the club’s head coach and has had just less than a week with the team in training and he believes given more time, they will perform well.
“This is the first game for me. They don’t know me and we need more time to improve together physically and tactically,” said the Brazilian tactician.
Looking back at the defeat to Arrows, the coach admitted the Zambians were better than them especially in the first half, but once he tightened a few bolts at halftime, they played much more like how he would have wanted.
Gor will take on Djibouti side Telecom in their second group stage match on Sunday evening, and they will need to pick a win to keep their quarter final hopes alive.
