Real de Banjul defeated GAF 4-1 during their season’s opening game played at the Bakau Mini-Stadium on Monday.
“I am very happy with my boys and also very happy to start the league season with a win,” he told reporters shortly after the game.
“I felt a little tension inside the team because we have trained three months already and the boys want to succeed,” he said. “In the first half we struggled a lot but after talking to the team at half time we came back with a good attitude. So, congratulations to everybody!”
He congratulated his two fantastic goal scorers for their brilliant finishes, adding that they scored “nice goals” after having only two shots on target during the first half.
“We only had two shots on goal which was not enough. This is why when we went for the break, we told them that we have to score more goals, which is very important,” he added.
He expressed happiness and satisfaction with the way his boys combined with each other during the game for the goals, adding that his boys impressed him a lot on how they responded when GAF took the lead.
“What I like about my boys is that they hate to lose,” said the Estonian professional coach Vjatseslav Zahovaiko, who was appointed by Real de Banjul in October 2022.
Adama Jatta, the head coach of GAF FC, said they had a setback due to the early red card they conceded in the second half.
“We got an early red card in the second half that demoralized the team,” Coach Jatta said. “I had to remove one of my strongest players to bring in another goalkeeper. But this is football; you win, lose or draw.”
According to him, their main objective this season is to finish in the top three in the league, as it is the task given to him by the team’s management.
“I also promised them that I will do my best in guiding the team towards that direction,” he added, saying: “This is football. Losing your first game does not mean that you are down. We have 14 games to go.”
