Black Starlets coach, Laryea Kingston has expressed his dissatisfaction despite his side’s convincing 5-1 victory over Cote d’Ivoire.
Despite the resounding win in their opener at the WAFU Zone B Championship at the Legon Sports Stadium on Wednesday, Kingston was left unimpressed with the performance of the team.
According to him, the Black Starlets could have exhibited greater dominance. Reflecting on previous matches and preparation, Kingston highlighted the team’s usual dominance but noted a departure from this trend against Cote d’Ivoire.
“Throughout this preparation, every team that we’ve played, we’ve dominated play. [In] our last tournament in Russia, we lost against Russia. First 15 minutes we were down 3-0 but we dominated play. Against Serbia, we dominated play, against Kazakhstan, we dominated play. [In] our friendly game against Niger, we dominated play as well,” said Kingston after the game.
Acknowledging the strength of the Ivorian side, Kingston attributed some nervousness among his players, particularly those experiencing their first major competition on home soil.
He emphasized the importance of managing these nerves and striving for improvement in future matches.
“Today’s game, different opponent. Like I said, thumbs up to the Ivorians; they are a very good side. Of course, most of my boys, [this is the] first time playing such a competition on home soil. I felt they were a little bit jittery. So with that, we had to manage and then try to take something out and try to do our best.
“Sometimes, we tried to play one, two, three passes but for me, as a technical person, I’m not satisfied with the way we played. We didn’t dominate play today. We just got the results but in up-and-coming games, this is our style and you will see it in the way we play.”
Looking ahead, the Black Starlets are set to face Benin in their next encounter scheduled for Tuesday, May 21.