Pasuwa admits that his players did not come to the party in a defeat to Wanderers
By Antony Isaiah Jr:……
Nyasa Big Bullets Head Coach, Kalisto Pasuwa has admitted that his players did not come to the party in their defeat to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers in the Airtel Top-8 Cup final at Bingu National Stadium.
Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ Mark Simon Harrison became the first Coach to lead the team in beating their rivals in a Cup game since Elia Kananji in 2015 in the Carlsberg Cup.
In their quest to win the game, Wanderers did not allow the people’s team to enjoy the game like the way they have been doing in their previous matches and Nomads were pressing hard hence forcing Bullets to make blunders.
A barren stalemate in regulation time waited for Penalties to decide and misfortune had fallen on the young promising Centre-backs, Kesten Simbi who missed his penalty while Vincent Nyangulu took the decisive penalty to give the Lali Luban based their first silverware after four years.
In the post-match interviews, Kalisto Pasuwa admitted that his boys were very slow on the ball and congratulated Mighty Mukuru Wanderers for fighting hard to win the trophy.
“We were very slow in circulating the ball as we are used to,” said Pasuwa. “It was a good game played by two teams who wanted to grab the cup. But that’s football, we move on and face the future with hope.
“But again, well done to the opposition, a team which was hungry to grab the trophy on the very last day of the season and that was the difference where you could see them all over us in every department in areas where we should have dominated.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean despite the defeat, praised his boys for the performance in the 2022 saying the players have performed beyond expectations as he still building a team.
“Again, these are youngsters who have been playing very well and one loss at the end of the season doesn’t take away the fact that they have extremely done well this year and I am very proud of what they have achieved. I will not take away everything from them and I am very optimistic about how they will perform next season. So, kudos to them, I salute my players,” added Pasuwa.
A defeat to Wanderers means that the people’s team have suffered two defeats out of 40 games that they played this season in Malawi.
The two teams will meet in the 2023 Charity Shield Cup next season.
