Coaches Corner: 2019 African Cup NSW title aspirations
As 20 nations prepare to contend for this year’s ANSA African Nations Cup (NSW). We caught up with four coaches to gain their aspirations for 2019.
Christian Okonkwo – Zimbabwe – Group A
“At the moment we are in a re-building process so we have a lot of young boys coming up in the team. “
“The project for this year is probably to get to the semi finals, and if possible, see if we can’t clinch that trophy for the first time.”
“We want an attacking pattern of play from the Zimbabwe team. We are not so much of a defensive team so we will be hoping to at least get a few goals in every game.”
Bonfils Laban – Tanzania – Group C
“To be honest, we don’t have that good of a record in the African Cup NSW but from last year we have been training hard.”
“This year I am pretty sure we are going to have a good team and do well.”
“This comp has been bringing a lot of communities together. We have fun, play some football, have barbecues and people just enjoy being with one another.”
“This is great for our communities to gather together, enjoy and get to know one another.”
David Kargbo – Ivory Coast – Group C
“My expectation for the team this year is that we want to go to the latter stages of the tournament.”
“We have the quality. We also have the experienced players that have been playing in this tournament for quite a long time so I am pretty sure that we are capable of getting there.”
“My team will be building from the back, just playing possession football, get to the final third and see what we can do from there.”
“We have a couple of players that can step their game up so that we can get to that level that this team is capable of getting to.”
Yaw Acheampong – Ghana – Group D
“Obviously looking to do really well. Ghana has a nice pedigree in this competition so the expectation is anything short of a semi final is often considered a failure.”
“We like that tag of being one of the big teams or favourites so that is what we are expecting this year too.”
“What I often tend to do is get the chance to blood in new, younger boys and get them ready, not just necessarily for this comp, but also for future comps. There is a few really, really young talent but they are not completely new but they are getting their chance this year.”
“Always attacking minded, always positive football and we don’t leave anything wondering. We push all we can to try and get the best result.”