Angola easily defeated Comoros Islands 5-0 on Thursday, scoring all of their goals in the first half of the opening 2023 Women’s Group B encounter.
The team’s dominant victory over Comoros, according to head coach Sousa Garcia, was the ideal way for his team to open the Southern Africa regional Women’s Championship.
Garcia continued, saying that in order to improve their prospects of qualifying, the Angolan women were determined to defeat the Islanders with the most points possible.
He notes that the challenge lies in the upcoming matches that will determine the final standings in the group.
“It was a must-win game for us because we know that we will fight for the first position in the group with Zambia or Mozambique. So, this was a must-win, and we did our job,” Garcia said.
The gaffer notes that the technical bench still needs to work on the psychological aspect before meeting Zambia on Sunday.
“I think we came with a mentality to win; we have a strategic plan for how we want to attack and defend, so the players did well. In the second half, the players relaxed, and that is a psychological thing that needs to be worked on,” he said.
“In the first match, we had about 7 to 8 players that were playing for the first time. It was our message to them that if we were to fight for the first position with Zambia or Mozambique, we needed to win. We won, and congratulations to them; we are happy with what they did,” he added.
Garcia aiming to silence Copper Queens.
Angola will need a win on Sunday against Zambia to be in full command of the group, and Garcia states that he will prepare the players for the match against the Copper Queens.
“Planning for the next two matches, I will think about how I can make the training session more complex for my players so that it can change their mindset. If they can do things with ease in training, then they will see things much easier in the actual match,” he stated.
“The next match will be more difficult than the first match against Comoros.”
In the second match of the day, Zambia drew 0-0 against Mozambique in a match that lacked a cutting edge from both sides.
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Angola is in first place with 3 points, while Mozambique occupies the second spot with a point, followed by Zambia in third place with one point, and Comoros at the bottom with no point.
