Ahead of this weekend’s 2023 CHAN final round of qualifiers against Black Galaxies, Super Eagles B coach Salisu Yusuf has admitted that the Ghanaian side are slightly better as per fitness ahead of their first leg tie to be played in Cape Coast on Sunday.
While the Super Eagles B are yet to kick a ball in the qualifiers, the Black Galaxies dispatched their Beninese counterparts in the previous round with a flattering 4-0 aggregate win over two legs. Coupled with the Galaxies’ recent training tour of Europe where they lost albeit 2-1 to Qatar National team this Tuesday at the Wiener Neustadt Stadium in Austria , Yusuf said Ghana’s preparation heading to Sunday’s tie is better compared to his hurriedly assembled side who has played just three practice matches including Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against NPFL side, Plateau United.
“Definitely, if you look at it statistically, they (Black Galaxies) are better in terms of match fitness and that is the reality ; and you can’t dispute that because they have undertook the tour of Europe and they had already played games in the qualifiers,” the 60-year-old Yusuf explained in an interview with Naija Info, Abuja.
The two West African rivals will battle over two legs to secure one of the tickets to the 2023 CHAN in Algeria with the first leg set to be played in Cape Coast on August 28 while the reverse fixture on September 1 will hold at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
“This is going to be our first game but if we can put our tactics and strategy together, we should be able to get something,” Yusuf explained , adding he has little information about the Galaxies.
He continued: “I have little information about their style of play and that is why we are varying our patterns of play (with the match practice) and looking for which pattern that can curtail them. “
“So our approach will depend on the situation in the game and we should be able to adapt with various patterns in other to show their weaknesses .
“Though they have a good team and more cohesion than our team because they have played more quality matches , I still believe in the ability of my team to get a good result.”