Labasa Coach Mohammed Kasim says rest and recovery is next for the team after two tough clashes at the 2023 Rooster Chicken/Scoops Ice Cream Battle of the Giants tournament at Prince Charles Park in Nadi in the weekend.
Kasim said playing full 90 minutes of soccer within 24 hours is not an easy task and players will need to give enough rest to their bodies before returning to the pitch.
“We have taken the result from here and we’ll break the camp for a week.”
“Players need to go back and refresh their mind from the tournament while having the focus for the must-win match against Ba next month.”
“In the final few minutes of the second half, fatigue caught us in both matches and maybe because we felt a little unsettled due to the postponement of the first match.”
“We could see that player’s got tired and we don’t blame the heat since we are used to playing in such humid conditions. We’ll have to also consider that these boys have been in camp for one week training in and out which has been tough but as defending champions, we are not bowing out of the tournament this early.”
The former Rewa goalkeeper also highlighted some of the key areas the team will train on ahead of the clash against Ba in the last Group B match next month.
“We have more than enough time to prepare for the Ba match and the boys will regroup after a week.”
“The team lacked finishing and defence and we need to strengthen those areas. We had a solid midfield but we missed too many scoring opportunities. Sometimes we slept in our defence from which the opponent was able to score.”
“Game against Ba will decide our fate, either we continue to defend our title or it’s the end but I’m sure the players will give their best. They have been performing well but playing against Ba, we need to display another level of performance.”
On Day 1, Extra Supermarket Labasa’s match against Ba was called off due to power outage and it will be played next month.
