Ok boys, it’s time to step it up, Nuttall tells Gor Mahia

IN DAR ES SALAAM

Gor Mahia coach Frank Nuttall has said his side must put in a much improved performance in their semi-final on Friday against Sudan’s Al Khartoum after a rather unimpressive qualification to the last four.

Although there was nothing surprising about the Kenyan champion beating South Sudan's Malakia in the quarter-finals on Tuesday afternoon, their lethargic performance especially in the second half of the match left a lot to be desired.

“You do not expect a team to perform at the highest level when they are playing five high intensity games in 11 days. We under performed again and there has to be an improved efforts from everyone in the semis if we want to progress further,” Nuttall said.

LABOURED WIN

Gor laboured to beat Malaika 2-1. The South Sudan side qualified for the quarters as the best losers and were expected to fold against the feared green tide.

(READ: Gor floor Malakia to set date with Khartoum)

Nuttal now has to device a game plan for a team that ran them rugged in their group encounter that ended all even.

(READ: Gor Mahia, Al Khartoum cancel out to reach quarters)

“I approach every match with the intention to win sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but all the time the aim is to win the match.

“Now we have proceeded to the semifinals and we look forward to winning the next match against opponents we have recently played before,” he said.

Uganda’s KCCA will face home side Azam in the second semi-finals also on Friday. KCCA beat Al Ahly of Sudan 3-0 in the first quarters on Wednedsay while Azam dispatched Yanga 5-3 in post match penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes of play.

JUJU AT CECAFA?

Meanwhile, and is with all matters concerning the magic, this cannot be proven but talk of witchcraft influencing teams’ performances has been whispered.

Yanga and Gor are being suspected of seeking other forces to aid their campaign in the competitions, although officials from both teams heavily deny these accusations. Yanga are the most feared of them all and in the group stages, all their opponents (including Gor) declined to use the designated changing rooms for fear that the rooms may have been laced with potent charms that could work against them during the match.

One peculiar incident that occurred during the opening match of the tournament involving Gor Mahia and Yanga FC is being revisited every day in this tournament.

During that afternoon 10 days ago, K’Ogalo refused to use the main entrance reserved for playing teams, and instead entered the National Stadium pitch using an alternative entrance, which is restricted to stadium staff only.

Because this alternative entrance was locked at that time, the team broke the door and made their way inside, something that caused the tournament’s Local Organising Committee to write to Cecafa boss Nicholas Musonye asking him to take action against the Kenyan team.

A member of the K’Ogalo delegation who did not wish to be named told Nation Sport that contrary to reports that this was an act to spite the stadium management, they were only taking basic safety precautions to guard themselves from the “strong medicine” laid by their opponents for the day.

“We have our people here and they had warned us in advance that the opponent had planned something for us. Our informants told us to avoid the changing rooms and any enclosure where the entire team members could be found together. That is why we avoided the main entrance and the locker rooms,” he said.

USED CHARMS

But Yanga goalkeeping trainer Juma Pondamali Mensa said the team does not use charms on a collective level.

that although witchcraft has been a part of football in this region, the team does not use charms on a collective level.

“When I was a player I would always consult a witch doctor, and I retired as the top goalkeeper in the country. For that I have no regrets. But that was very long ago. Things have since changed and nowadays people believe in the scientific ways of enhancing performance.

“If there is any witchcraft being practiced in Yanga, then it is being done by individual players who are chasing individual brilliance but not by the team as a whole.
Asked to weigh in on reports that K’Ogalo is being powered by witchcraft in this campaign, Mensa said: “I cannot authoritatively confirm that they (Gor) subscribe to witchcraft because I have not seen their charms. Some of their actions during this tournament are however very strange. What they did when we played them in the opening match suggest that they strongly believe in those things,” he said