FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Head Coach Kalisto Pasuwa was full of praise for his side after defending the NBS Bank Charity Shield with a 2-1 victory over Mighty Mukuru Wanderers at Bingu National Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The People’s Team went into the match without three key players, Gomezgani Chirwa, Precious Sambani and Hassan Kajoke, but Pasuwa trusted some of his youngest guns to take on their rivals in the Blantyre derby and they did not disappoint as they swept aside The Nomads who had every player available for the match.
And reacting to the victory, Pasuwa was left impressed as he hailed his players for playing well to win the Shield for a sixth time.
“I am very proud of the boys. The way they played, they played with patience. And if you could see the build-ups coming from the back going forward, we didn’t force the ball to go to them [Wanderers]. It was them who were dropping back into the middle-third where we invited them to come to us and attack them through spaces hence recording this victory,” he told reporters in his post-match press conference.
On the performance of some of his players, Pasuwa admitted to having seen them struggling, attributing it to their absence during the Pre-Season due to national team engagements.
“Some of my boys struggled a little bit and most of them were taken out but it was due to the pre-season [preparations] where we didn’t have some of these guys around [in training most of the times], but football being football, I would like to thank these boys and if they can keep up this kind of football, they will go far,” he commented.
The tactician paid a special tribute to the supporters who came out in large numbers to give the youngsters the much-needed support from the terraces.
On Maule’s overall performance, especially in the second half, Pasuwa said: “You see, we are starting the season and most of the guys are not yet up there, especially the guys who were with the national team and we didn’t do pre-season with them.
“So, if you can see, we are trying to have combinations coming. They can pull up maybe 45 minutes where they will be using a lot of energy in them and later in the second half, they lose concentration in them, so it’s something which we need to work on.
“If you saw our defence, the moment we started the second half, they were sitting too deep which means to them the game was already won, which is contrary to how they performed in the first half where they were pushing up the opposition and brought stability to the team, but we will work on it and hopefully, we will come out good”.
The gaffer described winning the sixth Charity Shield as motivation ahead of the TNM Super League campaign which kicks off this weekend.
“It’s a motivation indeed. It’s how these guys approach [the game] when they are playing in this cup. Last time we lost to them in [the Airtel Top 8] cup game and the boys were down, but here we are, they have come back and we told them if you win it, it will be a motivation to you, so it’s a timely victory heading into the new season”.
Next on the menu for The People’s Team is another Central Region trip to start our TNM Super League title defence away to Silver Strikers at the Bingu National Stadium on Saturday.
