Black Princesses coach Yussif Basigi on player adaptation, pressure, preparations and more: Transcript

The Black Princesses are currently preparing for the maiden edition of the WAFU B U-20 girls cup to be hosted in Ghana.

Head Coach Yussif Basigi has been speaking to ghanafa.org about preparations, expectations and support ahead of the tournament.

Read on for the full transcript:

On preparations

Preparation so far has been good and because of the league, we didn’t take much time in putting them in shape. The only thing is the team cohesion that we are supposed to blend them and some of them have been in the national team with the Black maidens so they understand each other very well and the few new ones are also catching up. Preparation has been very good so far as this maiden edition of the WAFU B U20 girls cup is concerned.

On player adaptation

Once this is a new team, the only thing is to ensure that they understand my concept and to use the simplest tactical play for them to get it on time so that they can gel as a team. I don’t want to complicate issues for them so I have brought everything to their level and catching up has not been so much of a problem. For this, I know they will live up to expectations though it is a new team I am putting together, you will see glimpses of a good performance and our aim is winning our matches which we are poised on doing.

On pressure to deliver

It doesn’t put pressure on me and the technical team. There is not much pressure, the only pressure is to ensure we win all our matches. If you don’t put pressure on you at certain level, it will not give you good performance because you should know what is at stake, which is the task ahead so you prepare towards it especially the mindset of the players and their psychic and the technical stuff because everybody must be well prepared mentally so our mindset is at the same level. And this is where I would say there is pressure on us because we need to win and impress Ghanaians and major stakeholders with our performance. We have to serve Ghanaians good football so we have to put everything in order and eventually crowned as champions.

On Kumasi fans

We all know Kumasi fans cheer the national teams to victory and we are expecting them to troop in at the Baba Yara sports stadium to give us the maximum support and cheer us to victory match after match and those who can’t be present should support us with prayers so we can make Ghanaians proud. Women’s football in Ghana is now growing very well and we have to showcase it during this tournament.

The Black Princesses are in Group A alongside Benin and Cote D’Ivoire and will kick off their campaign against Benin on Saturday, May 20, 2023 at the Baba Yara sports stadium in Kumasi.

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