Coach Evans Adotey – Upbeat

The Head Coach of Medeama Sporting Club, Evans Adotey has attributed the team’s unimpres¬sive performance in the first leg 1-0 win over Nigerian opponents, Remo Stars in the CAF Champions League to the lack of competitive friendly matches in their preparations.
A Jonathan Sowah strike hand¬ed the ‘Yellow and Mauves’ of Tark¬wa a lone goal victory to see the Nigerians off at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
That leaves Medeama with a slender advantage going into the second leg in Ogun State in Nigeria.
Speaking to the media after the game, Coach Adotey indicated that with the season yet to start, the team lacked the tough games that would bring the best out of his players but was confident the team will sail through to the next stage of the competition.
According to him, the second leg encoun¬ter tomorrow would be tougher than the previous leg with the fate of the teams half¬way defined with the result.
“We have a lone goal advantage secured at home but we all know that lead is nothing when you face your opponents on their home turf. They can easily make it even if they score a goal with no response from us.
“And unlike the first leg where they appeared quite cautious in their approach, the dynamics will likely change this time, knowing they have a deficit to cancel. We’ll also have to adjust our game plan to be in a posi¬tion to counter whatever they throw at us,” Coach Adotey said.
The Nigerians exited the competi¬tion at the same stage last season and have vowed to go past that stage this season.
Consequently, they have set an audacious target to stop the Ghana¬ians in their tracks with a victory in the second leg.
But Coach Adotey remains optimis¬tic about his team’s chances in the face of the Remo Stars pledge.
“Our chances to qualify for the next phase of the competition re¬main intact with the narrow victory. We’re confident about achieving a second-leg victory in Nigeria. We’re mindful of the fact that the match will be played on an astro turf. That prompted us to train on similar turf at Prampam before departing for Nigeria on Saturday (today),” Coach Adotey highlighted.
* The Writer is a Student of The University of Media Arts and Commu¬nication-GIJ

By Rachel Amenorpey