Gaebolae bemoans lack of fitness
Chakalisa Dube | Monday December 6, 2021 16:00
Gaebolae was left frustrated after his side conceded three home goals at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium. Ethiopia were in control and had a lot of momentum throughout the match. By half time, they led 2-0. The hosts did score early in the second half. That was moments before Ethiopia scored the third to take the match beyond reach for Gaebolae’s side. Additionally, the Friday match was arguably the worst performance for the Junior Mares in the qualifiers.
"If we had much time to prepare we could have done better.
We only had a week in camp before the match. A week was not enough for us to properly condition players for the match. They didn't start well because they lacked match fitness,” Gaebolae told The Monitor Sport moments after the Friday clash. She added, “I cannot say that lack of league action is the reason we played badly. That would be a pointless excuse because we have been playing the qualifiers without league action and doing well.
I still maintain that our major downfall is that we did not have enough time in camp to adequately work on the fitness of players. In the previous matches we did well because we spent enough time in camp.” The Junior Mares will now have to brace themselves for a very tough away second round encounter which will be played on December 17. “We have studied how they (Ethiopia) play. We will put so much effort into our preparations. It is going to be tough in Ethiopia, but the girls will dig in, like they have done in other qualifying matches. They will work hard to overturn the deficit,” she said.
Going into the third-round qualifying match it was inevitable that Ethiopia will prove the biggest test for the Junior Mares, because they have also been doing well during the qualifiers.
The visitors also came into the match much prepared than the Junior Mares. That was because less than three weeks ago they participated in the inaugural CECAFA Women’s U-20 Championship. The six team tournament was played on a league format. Ethiopia coming out top with 15 points, while hosts Uganda finished second with 12 points.
Overall, there are five qualifying rounds and only two teams from Africa will qualify for the 2021 Under-20 world cup billed for Costa Rica next year.