AfricaPress-Tanzania: NATIONAL Under-20 side Ngorongoro Heroes Head Coach Jamhuri Kihwelo has said that their recently two friendly matches against Uganda have given his side a good test ahead of AFCON Championship in Mauritania.
Heroes wrapped up the mini-tournament versus Uganda on a positive note after stamping a heavy 5-3 victory at Azam Complex in the city over the weekend.
The games were purposely organised to give the country’s envoys a good drill as they prepare to compete in the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations finals set to begin from February 14th to March 4th in Mauritania.
“To say the truth, the two International friendly games against Uganda have given us deserved match fitness and we plan to have another friendly duel versus Azam Under-20 side on Wednesday to see how far we have reached prior to our trip to Mauritania.
“We lost the first game and that gave us a chance to correct mistakes which occurred, that is why we have managed to win this encounter even though the shortfalls have not been totally removed. “Preparations for the team ahead of the crucial competition are ongoing and after each friendly match, we get a chance to tactically see what went wrong and what to be done to improve for the next encounter,” said the coach.
He further disclosed that they are working hard to strengthen the defensive section of which he said is prone to minor mistakes during competitive games.
Again, Kihwelo narrated that another area they are going to work at before heading to Mauritania is on the goalkeeping department.
His counterpart for Uganda Under-20 Borley Bwekaso said his defense was porous leading to conceding all the five goals on the day.
“The three goals we conceded were due to defensive errors as my players were caught in suspense but that is what football is all about. We need to reconstruct our backline before we go to Mauritania,” he said.
Tanzania are packed in group C of the contest together with Ghana, Gambia and Morocco. The country’s flag carriers will be making their debut in the competition and they have high hopes to excel.
