Big test for Micho

“Football has no guarantees. However meticulous a person is, the element of luck always plays a part in the result’, says Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. The Special One, as many call him, was humble enough to acknowledge the above statement when his Porto side unexpectedly won the Uefa 2004 champions league. After listening to Micho and observing his management style in the first few days of his tenure as Amavubi coach, I’m forced to believe that the Serbian shares some traits with Mourinho. Micho is painstakingly thorough in his preparation for matches. Prior to the 2014 Fifa World Cup first leg qualifier against Eritrea, he refused to limit himself to the 90 minutes of football by also focusing on eventualities like bad refereeing, hostile crowd and a poor pitch. Another great trait for the former Orlando Pirates coach is the ability to quickly blend with players. From last week’s training sessions, you could see that the players are comfortable with him. That said, there is no doubt that Amavubi will be the team under more pressure this afternoon. Playing in front of their expectant fans, the players know that anything short of a win is unacceptable even if they were to progress to the group stages. Rwanda’s last home win (3-1) came way back in March against Burundi even though some sections of Amavubi fans still believe that their neighbours deserved a point on that occasion. A win, this afternoon, will not only relieve Micho of the pressure but also instill more confidence in the team. Ends

Sports

Big test for Micho