DAR ES SALAAM: YOUNG Africans Coach, Miguel Gamondi took full responsibility for his side’s disappointing 3-1 loss to Tabora United at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam on Thursday.
Gamondi made the remarks during the post-match interview, where he noted that despite his team’s loss still his charges displayed a strong performance and creating numerous opportunities during the match.
“I take all the responsibility,” said the visibly disappointed Gamondi. “When the team wins, everybody is happy. When we lose, I am the coach and I must take responsibility for that. I will not blame the players. I am in charge.”
The game unfolded in an unexpected and frustrating manner for Yanga. Gamondi’s side suffered an early setback in the eighth minute when they lost a key defender to injury. Without a backup central defender on the bench, the team’s defensive stability was immediately compromised. This, according to the coach, proved costly.
“Nothing went well for us today (Thursday),” Gamondi admitted.
“We were forced to play without a central defender on the bench, and Musonda missed a clear chance in the first half. Then, Tabora United attacked once and scored, and we missed a penalty. They had two attacks and scored twice, while we attacked more than 20 times and only got one goal. It’s football, but we must be honest.”
Despite the heavy loss, Gamondi remained focused on his tactical evaluation. While he acknowledged that the team’s performance was good in many areas, he pointed out that the key moments—such as missed chances and defensive mistakes—ultimately cost his team.
“The performance was not bad, but we were affected by the situation. We couldn’t adjust after the injury, and the key moments in the game just didn’t go our way. We created so many chances, but at the end of the day, we didn’t convert them. The other team took their chances,” he noted.
Turning his attention to the challenges presented by the national team break, which sees a significant number of his players away for international duty, Gamondi reflected on the difficulties of managing a team under such conditions.
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“About 12 players will be gone for national team duty. We cannot train with our full first XI—sometimes we don’t even have three or four of them. It’s very difficult when they come back after a long travel, out of focus and not fully ready to play. The FIFA break really disrupts the team’s rhythm and it is a challenge to manage,” he said.
Gamondi also stressed that lack of time for proper training due to the congested schedule has been a significant hurdle.
“The last month, we haven’t had much time for proper training, just play and recovery. This is the reality we must accept.”
Kiazayidi hails motivation momentum after win
His counterpart, Coach Anicet Kiazayidi commended his players following their hard-fought victory over Yanga.
Speaking after the match, Kiazayidi pointed out the importance of team motivation and belief, particularly as his side had been on a difficult run of form leading up to the match.
“I think it’s all about motivation. We have been through a rough patch with a string of losses, but we kept pushing. The key was keeping the momentum going. My job was to motivate the players, keep them focused and that was the key thing for us today,” he noted.
Kiazayidi also highlighted the psychological aspect of the win, noting the significance of the team’s mental strength and belief in players. He noted that while financial rewards often follow success, the core of the team’s efforts had been their determination and focus on the task at hand.
“The money comes after, but the motivation to do well on the field is what drives us,” he said.
“We analysed Young Africans, looked at their strengths and worked on ways to counter them, using our own qualities. We trusted that our approach would work for us.”
He also made reaction on the team’s tactics change since taking over as coach. He stressed the importance of understanding where the team had been, where they are now and where they aim to be in the future.
“The first key thing was to understand the group—where we were before, where we are now, and where we want to head. It’s all about setting the right mindset and getting the players to believe that they can achieve more. They needed to know that if we could survive last season, we could do much better this time.”
Kiazayidi pointed out that last season, Tabora United had only won five matches, and it was clear that the team had made significant progress this year.
“Last season, we only won five matches here. Now, we’re tracking better results after five matches, so it means we’re much better than we were. The key was telling the players that even when you’re at the bottom of the league, you can still strive for success. We told them that if you dream it, you can achieve it. Belief and focus are everything” he said.
