National team coach Zdravko Logarušic has demanded an improvement from his players when they take on Ethiopia in their second FIFA World Cup Group H qualifier at the Bahir Dar Stadium this Tuesday.
The match kicks off at 3 pm Zimbabwean time.
The Warriors were held to an insipid goalless draw by South Africa’s Bafana Bafana at the National Sports Stadium on Friday.
The Croat was left frustrated by individual and collective performances and has demanded an improvement. He said:
We have to improve from our first game, to have better transition when we receive the ball to make it move a bit quicker between the lines and try to finish our attacks quicker.
We have to be quicker in our counterattacks, but at the same time have a bit of patience by moving the ball around. The ball should do the running for us.
Those are some of the things which we should improve on including creating some extra numbers in attack, especially from our wingers. We didn’t have lots of support the last time.
It is understood the coach has turned to Germany-based midfielder Jonah Fabisch (20) to provide the much-needed spark in midfield.
Wingers Ishamel Wadi and Perfect Chikwende are expected to be named in the starting eleven, with Washington Arubi also expected to be picked ahead of Talbert Shumba between the sticks.
Even though the Walia Ibex lost by a goal to nil to the Black Stars of Ghana, Logarusic is convinced that they will have to bring their A-game if they are to get anything from this game. He said:
Ethiopia is not an easy team to play against. Their boys are ballplayers and they are fit because their league is on.
They created a lot of problems for Ghana and they only made one mistake by the goalkeeper to concede a goal.
Defensively, we have to stay compact because the opposition makes some very good runs with a lot of short passes. They always look for spaces between lines.
And when we regain possession, the ball should quickly go through and not going left and right. We should arrive in the scoring area as quick as possible.