AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE national Under-20 side Ngorongoro Heroes Head Coach Jamhuri Kihwelo said the two day mini tournament against Uganda will help a lot to sharpen his squad.
Heroes are set to take on Uganda today at Azam Complex in Chamazi before playing their last game on Saturday at the same venue.
For a long time, Uganda Hippos have been a thorn in fresh for the country’s football teams hence an opportunity to show them that enough is enough by revenging on the pitch.
The two friendly encounters are part and parcel of the team’s preparations for upcoming Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations to unfold from this month in Mauritania.
“We are progressing well with training sessions and my squad has been strengthened with the return of five players who were included in the senior team Taifa Stars squad which competed in the Africa Nations Championship in Cameroon recently. “I hope that the exposure they gained while trading with Taifa Stars will be utilised well to upgrade our status and eventually win the Under-20 AFCON,” said Kihwelo.
He then cemented that they are not going to Mauritania to participate but rather to compete and clinch the silverware even though it is their first time to qualify.
“During the competition’s qualifying matches, I once vowed to take the team to AFCON finals of which it came to materialise and now, I am making another vow to win the trophy,” he confidently said.
He then lauded the gesture of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Technical Director Oscar Mirambo of making frequent visits to see how the boys are responding to training sessions.
“He sometimes coaches them about basics in football which is good and the same unity is what we want to encourage so as to reach the higher stages of the competition,” he said.
Moreover, Kihwelo explained that modern football require players to be creative enough during matches such that they should not wait to be spoon fed on everything as coaches too get tired.
“When pressure of the game is high, as a coach, sometimes you run out of ideas that is why you need to see creativity from your players plus a good technical bench to ease such pressure,” he said.
