Milovan Rajevic, Head Coach of the Black Stars believes the defeat of the Black Stars at the hands of Pharoahs of Egypt in the finals of the 27th Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, last Sunday was due to a momentary loss of concentration on the part of his players.
"We played well and dominated proceedings throughout the game and I thought we have sustained that, but for a brief loss of concentration, we allowed the Egyptians to score the only goal of the match to win the trophy". Coach Rajevic made these remarks at a post-match press conference.
He said, the Black Stars played to a well rehearsed strategy and this worked for them till the period the goal was scored adding that it was unfortunate they had to concede a goal at that period of the game.
According to the Coach the inability of his team to win the game was due to their inability to convert many scoring chances that came their way. "We were in absolute control and if we had converted at least a chance that could have saved the day for us and possibly made us the champions o f the competition". The Coach stated. Coach Rajevic, however, conceded that the Egyptian side was better than the Black Stars in terms of experience and quality, saying, "their goal gives clear indication of their worth".
He said the Stars played a good game on the day but the Egyptians were able to convert the only chance that they had to win the trophy. Justifying his substitutions, the Coach said, Asamoah Gyan was exhausted in the course of the game and had no option than to replace him. He denied that that the substitution affected the game plan of the Black Stars saying Dominic Adiyiah could have delivered with the same level of perfection in the game, but it was too late for us.
The soft-spoken Rajevic was confident the Black Stars would get better in the course of the year because the youthful players as well as new debutants have been given enough experience and exposure in the competition. The Serbian congratulated the Egyptians for winning the match adding that they were the better side on the day.
Rajevic said the Egyptians have once again demonstrated their dominance on the Continent as the leading football nation.
