The Kilimanjaro Stars’ coach bemoans the lack of depth in his squad saying it played a part in the team’s dismal performances
Tanzania coach Juma Mgunda said the minimal number of players required at the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup prevented teams from doing proper rotation, thereby hampering good performances.
Hosts Uganda claimed their 15th Cecafa title after demolishing Eritrea 3-0 in the final of the competition, which climaxed on Thursday at the KCCA Lugogo Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
It was a good performance from the Cranes in the contest as they accomplished their mission without entertaining a defeat from all games played.
Kilimanjaro Stars finished in fourth spot as they again succumbed to a 2-1 defeat from Kenya’s Harambee Stars in the third-place play-off match.
Stars once more failed to stamp revenge over Harambee Stars, who pocketed bronze for finishing in third place. Gadiel Michael scored the consolation goal for his team in the 83rd minute of the match, while Harambee Stars’ goals were netted by Kenneth Muguna (16th minute) and Hassan Abdallah (36th minute).
Mgunda now says the competition was losing its rhythm because of the fewer numbers of players (20) in the squads.
“To say the truth, the number of players is very small and we lacked depth in the squad to do a proper rotation of players. It could have been better if the number of players was at least 23 just like the requirements of the Africa Cup of Nations [Afcon],” Mgunda is quoted by Daily News.
He then requested Cecafa to consider increasing the number of players for them to have a wide range of player selections at the competition.
Commenting on the match itself, Mgunda said his charges lost concentration in the first half and gave room for Kenya to score two goals.
Moreover, Mgunda revealed the competition was a good platform for his charges prior to the upcoming Africa Nations Championship (Chan) games of which, he said some of the players in his squad were specifically picked to get experience and confidence of playing in the Chan encounters.
“The five competitive games we have played here have given us a clear picture of the squad in terms of where we should upgrade for us to do well in Chan and other international matches,” Mgunda continued.
On his part, Harambee Stars coach Francis Kimanzi also said the general organisation of the tournament needs to be changed to suit the current demand of modern football.
“It’s just unfortunate that we are returning back home with many injured players because the matches are played on a regular basis without ample time of players to rest and we lack rotation of players,” Kimanzi said.
Commenting on beating Stars twice in the same competition, Kimanzi said it does not mean they were the best team only that they capitalised on chances created.
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