Thimphu: Guam head coach Karl Dodd has urged his players to be braver in the return leg against Bhutan in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification on Tuesday.
Bhutan enjoyed a hard-earned 1-0 triumph thanks to Tshering Dorji's first half strike but Dodd insist the tie is far from over.
“Bhutan came out fighting and they won every second ball. They kept to the basics well and we have to come in a lot better in the second game. I was not happy at all with the performance. I don’t know if it was the altitude, but the cramps suffered from the two players is a regular occurrence.
“We have to be more involved in the contest and we are not out of this. We have a second leg to come and that’s a positive. The weather is different in Guam, there’s no altitude and the temperature is hot. It is about our players stepping up now. We can’t train for this moment and work this hard and freeze up,” said Dodd (pictured below, right).
Guam were forced to defend for most of the match against the resilient home side but they missed two glorious chances which were saved by the studs of goalkeeper Tshering Dendup.
“If there’s anything I would change, it is to ask my players to be braver because they are good players. Bhutan had good preparations and it is a home game for them. The crowd was great and that certainly made a difference.
“There are always positives. Every mistake is a learning experience. I ask my players to grow and learn from those mistakes so we don’t make them again. We made one big mistake but if you look at the side when we were brave, we had goal scoring opportunities which we should have scored,” added the Australian.
Source: the-afc.com