Nyasa Big Bullets assistant coach Peter Mponda says it was disappointing to see his side playing to a 1-1 draw against Uganda’s Express FC in the second game of the 2021 CECAFA Kagame Cup on Wednesday evening.
Just like the opening game against Young Africans of Tanzania, The People’s Team had to come from behind through Chiukepo Msowoya’s 65th minute strike to salvage a point against the Group A leaders who took a lead in the in the 7th minute through Muzamiru Mutyaba at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
“I’m very disappointed with the result. We wanted three points, but just like in the first game, we conceded early from nothing then we had to work hard to get the equalizer. We tried to force a winner, unfortunately we failed to score the winning goal,” reacted Mponda in a post-match interview.
He highlighted that Bullets needed a win to lead the group and possibly qualify with ease to the next round of the tournament.
Despite sharing the spoils with the Ugandan champions, Mponda was on the other hand impressed with the fighting spirit Bullets continue demonstrating on the pitch.
“I was very impressed with the performance of the boys who showed character throughout the match, hence the ability to equalize and secure a point,” he said.
Mponda also added that what is remaining is to work on the psychological part of the boys who are fond of conceding early in the game. Against Yanga Bullets also conceded in the 7th minute before Msowoya equalized before the half-hour mark.
“We are now trying to work on their psychological problems because they are always conceding early then we have to double our efforts to equalize and try to win the game, but the boys did give out everything in terms of their performance by playing good football and dominating like the first game, but football is about scoring goals no matter how much you dominate, goals matter and we are really looking forward to the next game, which is a must game for us.”
Second in the group with two points, Bullets must beat South Sudan’s Atlabara FC on Saturday to make it into the final four of the competition.
