Coach Charlie Wright
Head Coach of Sierra Leone national youth U-20 squad, Charlie Wrights says immaturity and lack of competitiveness were the key causes for their elimination in 2017 African U-20 Youth Championship qualifiers.
Wright’s Shooting Stars were eliminated by the Darling Scorpions of Gambia 4-0 on aggregate after winning both legs in Freetown and in the Gambia 2-0.
The former FC Kallon tactician who was hoping to turn things around in Banjul was left disappointed as they took an early exit from the competition.
Head Coach of Sierra Leone national youth U-20 squad, Charlie Wrights says immaturity and lack of competitiveness were the key causes for their elimination in 2017 African U-20 Youth Championship qualifiers.
Wright’s Shooting Stars were eliminated by the Darling Scorpions of Gambia 4-0 on aggregate after winning both legs in Freetown and in the Gambia 2-0.
The former FC Kallon tactician who was hoping to turn things around in Banjul was left disappointed as they took an early exit from the competition.
“We were just trying to recover after being affected by Ebola for two years and the disease kept us aback in terms of the game,” he said.
“It was difficult for me to get the boys together to partake in the qualifiers. These are young boys and we are trying to build a team, which is not easy, I think we were eliminated because 95 percent of the players are immature and lack competitiveness.”
Wright also revealed that the lack of competitions locally or international due to the ‘Ebola crisis’ was another deterring factor adding that they had to start from the grassroots to develop the players.
“I believe it is not the end for us as; we will maintain these boys so we can graduate and expose them,” he said, adding that it is back to our roots again to playing home leagues as well as international matches.
The Shooting Stars boss ended by wishing the Gambian team best of luck in the rest of the qualifiers and hope they make West Africa proud.
The Darling Scorpions will now face Morocco in the second round of the qualifiers. The first leg will be played in Banjul in the weekend of 20-22 May 2016 while the return leg will be hosted by the North Africans in the weekend of 10-12 June 2016.
“It was difficult for me to get the boys together to partake in the qualifiers. These are young boys and we are trying to build a team, which is not easy, I think we were eliminated because 95 percent of the players are immature and lack competitiveness.”
Wright also revealed that the lack of competitions locally or international due to the ‘Ebola crisis’ was another deterring factor adding that they had to start from the grassroots to develop the players.
“I believe it is not the end for us as; we will maintain these boys so we can graduate and expose them,” he said, adding that it is back to our roots again to playing home leagues as well as international matches.
The Shooting Stars boss ended by wishing the Gambian team best of luck in the rest of the qualifiers and hope they make West Africa proud.
The Darling Scorpions will now face Morocco in the second round of the qualifiers. The first leg will be played in Banjul in the weekend of 20-22 May 2016 while the return leg will be hosted by the North Africans in the weekend of 10-12 June 2016.
By: Sahr Morris Jr. in Baku, Azerbaijan
RSS Feed