At the All African Games, the U20 Uganda women’s team faced a tough opponent, the U20 Nigeria women’s team. The match ended in a 2-0 victory for Nigeria, leaving the Ugandan team to reflect on their performance and strategize for future games.
Coach Sheryl Ulanda Botes of the U20 Uganda team shared her thoughts in a post-match press conference. “Our key focus was to win this match today. I don’t think any team comes into a competition to lose. So that is always our focus and so that we can empower the girls so they can compete,” she said.
Botes acknowledged the strength of the Nigerian team, stating, “This was the game that we knew it was going to be tough, it was going to be challenging playing the defending champions even though Nigeria was a formidable team.”
She emphasized the importance of the match for the Ugandan team, saying, “Our girls really needed this. They needed to understand what it’s like to play against Nigeria and what they bring to the game.”
The Ugandan team changed their formation in the 74th minute to put the Nigerian team under pressure. Botes noted that this strategy worked initially as Nigeria struggled to come out of the defence line. However, as the Ugandan team applied more pressure, they started losing the ball in the midfield.
Botes explained, “Number four, number ten, were then given a bit of more freedom. They pick up the second ball in the midfield and immediately they would play the ball behind the defence line.”
At halftime, the Ugandan team made some changes. They substituted Juliet, one of their strikers, and brought on fresh legs. However, an injury in the midfield forced them to change things around again. Fiona, one of their players, suffered what looked like a medial ACL injury in the 90th minute.
Despite these challenges, Botes remained proud of her team. “I thought we competed with Nigeria pound for pound. I thought the girls got stuck in,” she said. She acknowledged that decision making was a key factor that led to Nigeria scoring the first goal in the 74th minute and the last one in the 91st minute.
Looking ahead, Botes expressed hope for the future. “Hope is not gone. We still got a third place position to play for,” she said. This sentiment reflects the resilience of the U20 Uganda women’s team and their determination to learn from their experiences and come back stronger in their future games. As they prepare for their next match, the team will undoubtedly draw on the lessons learned from this game to improve their performance.
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